A famous baseball player once said that it ain’t over until it’s over. In other words, until something comes to an absolute end, you can never believe it is truly over. This is what business groups in Hokkaido are now proving to be true, as they have recently told Inside Asian Gaming that they still intend on trying to make the hosting of an integrated resort (IR) a reality. This comes three weeks after the governor announced that the bid for an IR was over.
While many business groups are interested in keeping this dream alive, it is Hard Rock Japan President Ado Machida that is at the forefront of this proposal. In a recent interview, he explained that his company is strongly invested in making this resort to reality.
“We have only been focused on Hokkaido. We have established an office in Tomakomai and have been promoting a bid. The company was planning to invest US$5 billion and expected to employ 15,000 to 21,000 people.”
He also expressed his angst that Governor Naomichi Suzuki had decided to shelve the bid for the IR.“I really don’t understand [the Governor’s decision] and I feel it’s a bit of a waste. An IR was expected to help drastically mitigate the problems of population decline, the declining birthrate, an aging population and the tax decline that comes with that.”
Hokkaido was looked at as a long shot to earn a bid, especially due to the wide disparity of opinions on the bid itself within the island nation. Within Hokkaido’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party there was a lack of unity on a wide variety of issues that led to the tabling of the bid.
Just before the end of November, Governor Suzuki addressed the assembly. He stated, “As a result of careful consideration, I had reached the conclusion that I would like to give an IR bid a shot, however, the candidate site is likely to be a habitat of rare animals and plants, and the appropriate environmental considerations would be impossible in the restricted schedule.”
This was believed to have effectively ended any chance the island had of bidding on an integrated resort. However, it appears now that a group of business leaders are more determined than ever to keep this bid alive.
In discussing the hope of receiving an IR bid, Akihiko Mayumi, Chairman of the Hokkaido Economic Federation, explained that, “Eight organizations, including my own, have made requests to the Governor and we have made progress by establishing ventures such as the Thinking About Hokkaido IR Group.”
It clearly proves that it ain’t over until it’s over.
