It would be difficult for Nagasaki prefecture to make an administrative appeal against the decision of Japan’s central authorities not to approve the conurbation’s plan to develop an integrated resort (IR) with casino. So said Nagasaki’s governor, Kengo Oishi (pictured in a file photo) in comments during a prefectural assembly discussion.
“The prefecture consulted with experts in law about the non-approval and how to deal with it. The prefecture was told that it is almost impossible for the [national] government to reconsider the result,” Mr Oishi told the Nagasaki prefectural assembly on Tuesday.
Mr Oishi observed in his Tuesday comments: “The prefecture has come to recognise it is a high hurdle to make an administrative appeal request to the [national] government. However, the prefecture is going to consult with related people including the assembly to make a final judgment.”
According to information reviewed by GGRAsia’s Japan correspondent, Nagasaki has three months – from the time of the December 27 announcement of the non-approval of Nagasaki’s IR District Development Plan – to file an appeal under that nation’s Administrative Appeal Act.
The prefecture’s deputy governor Yuko Baba flagged in early February that the local authorities had considered the “possibility” of such an appeal.
The Japan Tourism Agency, a body under the country’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, which had given the non-approval news, had mentioned in a press conference at the time, that Nagasaki prefecture would be able to submit a fresh plan for a future application window if it wished, though the agency gave no timetable for such a new window.
The IR plan was due to be on land at the Huis Ten Bosch theme park, in Sasebo city, which is part of Nagasaki prefecture.
So far only Osaka has been approved to host an IR in Japan, based on the latter’s plan submitted in April 2022, the same month as Nagasaki’s application. They are the only two locations to have submitted an IR proposal to the national government.
