Suguru Kanazawa, mayor of the Japanese city of Tomakomai (pictured), in Japan’s Hokkaido prefecture, says the city will respond in the affirmative to a survey from the prefectural government on the topic of whether to have an integrated resort (IR) with a casino.
Mr Kanazawa made the comments in a Wednesday press briefing. He said the city will tell the prefectural authorities “that it is interested in having an IR,” according to a report in the Hokkaido Shimbun news outlet.
The mayor also said the city authorities were “willing” to work with local municipalities that intend to support the metropolis’ bid to host a casino resort.
The Hokkaido prefecture launched this month a survey of all 179 of the island’s local governments on the topic of whether to have an IR.
It was described by the Hokkaido Shimbun as the “first time” there had been such a survey since the prefecture “decided not to apply in 2019,” prior to the first round of nationwide local-authority applications for the right to host such a facility.
The survey, in questionnaire format, was dispatched at the start of August, with the end of the month being the deadline for responses.
Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost prefecture, has had a number of business-sector meetings recently, discussing the IR topic.
From a review by GGRAsia’s Japan correspondent of previous comment by Hokkaido prefecture, it had made public in April 2019 regarding its ‘basic policy’ on the IR topic, that Tomakomai, a industrial port city, was its priority candidate location among three possible areas. The three were: Tomakomai, Kushiro city, and Rusutsu village. That list was prior to Hokkaido deciding not to join a first round of applications.
In February this year, Tomakomai mayor indicated the city would continue preparatory work tied to its long-expressed aim of having an IR.
The only IR approved for the country so far is the JPY1.27-trillion (US$8.61-billion currently) MGM Osaka, due to open in 2030.
In June this year, a Japanese government official had said the opening of a new round of IR hosting applications was “not far off”.
