Japan’s Aichi prefecture has issued a draft implementation policy for a possible integrated resort (IR) with casino on a landfill island (pictured) that is home to its Chubu Centrair International Airport.
Private-sector entities interested in such an IR idea, are being asked to submit opinions. The submission period opened on Wednesday (February 25) and runs until March 19.
One standout feature of the draft policy – reviewed by GGRAsia – is a “project term” of “35 years with possible extension”. The document does not clarify the length of the gaming licence.
A submission guideline issued by Aichi prefecture mentioned as motivations for a casino resort, “economic and tourism revitalisation, and prevention of the outflow of the younger populations to the Tokyo metropolitan area”.
The statement from Aichi added: “The Aichi prefectural government is currently conducting research to develop attractive functions in Chubu Centrair International Airport and its surrounding areas, with the aim of realising an ‘international tourism city with MICE as its core’ that is internationally competitive.”
That was a reference to meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions business, seen by cities across the world as a way of creating sustainable business tourism.
Depending on the feedback from Aichi’s ‘request-for-opinion’, a formal implementation policy may be issued, followed by a request-for-proposal phase.
Local governments in Japan interested in hosting an IR would then need to submit an application to the national authorities via their individual ‘IR District Development Plan”. A new national round for applications has been provisionally scheduled by the national authorities for May 6, 2027, to November 5 that year.
The news on Aichi comes only a fortnight after local media reported the prefecture would refresh its push for an IR.
In the period of the first national application round, that concluded in December 2023, the Aichi authorities considered submitting a proposal but ultimately gave up in 2022.
At the time, the governor, Hideaki Omura, said the decision was due to disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Mr Omura is currently serving his fourth term as governor of Aichi prefecture.
The prefecture is in the central Chubu region on the Pacific coast of Japan’s main island, Honshu. Its capital Nagoya, is among the top four Japanese cities in population terms.
Required IR elements
Aichi’s proposed site, the “Chubu Centrair International Airport Island”, is a marine reclamation area 35 kilometres (21.7 miles) south of Nagoya.
The site proposed for an IR covers 50 hectares (123.6 acres) on the island (pictured in shaded red).
The circa 580-hectare (1,433-acre) island, in Ise Bay, is currently home to Chubu Centrair International Airport, a major air hub in central Japan, and to Aichi Sky Expo (ASE), described on the latter’s website as “Japan’s only permanent bonded exhibition venue”.
According to Aichi’s draft implementation policy document, “the prefecture will sell the ASE to the IR operator”.
The requirements under the draft policy, include: “international conference facilities: maximum single-room capacity of at least 3,000 persons,” with “total capacity across all conference rooms of at least twice that number”.
Other requirements are an “exhibition area of at least 60,000 square metres [645,835 sq. feet]”; “facilities showcasing Japan’s traditions, culture, arts, and industrial tourism to the world;” and “total floor area of all guest rooms to be approximately 100,000 sq. metres or more”.
The gaming area would be “limited to no more than 3 percent of the total floor area” of the IR facilities.
The candidate operator would also need to implement “appropriate measures to prevent gambling addiction and to maintain public safety and a public moral environment”.
Under project costs, the paper says: “All costs required for the IR project, including land use costs, shall be borne by the IR-operator.”
