US casino operator MGM Resorts International and local partner Orix Corp won government approval Friday (14 April) to build Japan’s first casino.Īs per Reuters, both own a 40 per cent stake in the company established to run the complex.
Japan’s tourism and infrastructure minister, Tetsuo Saito, said Osaka’s bid was approved after “sufficient examination from various perspectives”. The Japanese government’s approval comes after Hirofumi Yoshimura, an opposition Japan Innovation Party politician, who won re-election as Osaka governor on Sunday, supported the plan. Some analysts believe Japan’s gambling market has the potential to generate $20 billion a year.
It was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and also a corruption scandal that led to the arrest of a ruling-party lawmaker who was accused of accepting bribes. In 2018, Japan’s parliament passed an integrated resort (IR) law making casino games such as poker or baccarat legal at officially approved establishments to boost tourism and create jobs, reported Reuters.Īlthough the project to build casino resorts was proposed years ago, it has only been accepted now. Casinos were earlier illegal in Japan until 2016 when the country lifted the ban.
