The governor of Hokkaido prefecture has called for Japan’s national government to “examine reasons” why the country’s first round of applications to host an integrated resort (IR) with casino generated a single successful candidate, Osaka.
The suggestion of Hokkaido governor Naomichi Suzuki came on Friday. It was the day before his prefecture held the first meeting of its “IR expert panel” that will help guide the local community on how possibly to approach a fresh round of IR applications due for 2027.
Friday was the final day for public consultation on the Japanese Cabinet’s proposed date of May 6, 2027 to November 5 that year for the new application round.
At a regular media briefing on Friday, Mr Suzuki said Hokkaido had submitted opinion comments on the new round. These included asking the national government to “consider what IRs in local areas should be, which could be different from those of major metropolitan areas”.
Mr Suzuki also noted regarding the first round, which concluded in December 2023: “Only Osaka prefecture was approved. Nagasaki prefecture was not approved. Yokohama city and Wakayama prefecture did not make applications. I think that the [national] government needs to examine the reasons behind that.”
Hokkaido expressed interest prior to the first round, but eventually dropped out of contention in late 2019, before the first round began.
The sole fruit of the first-round process, the JPY1.51-trillion (US$9.57-billion currently) MGM Osaka, is due to launch at the end of 2030.
In December this year, officials in Wakayama and Fukuoka seemingly ruled out joining even Japan’s next IR application round in 2027.
Governor Suzuki said in his Friday comments that the prefecture “continues to go ahead with establishing ‘The basic stance on IR of Hokkaido prefecture’ and ‘The Hokkaido-Style IR Concept’, exchanging opinions with municipalities and related companies and organisations.”
He added that a “Hokkaido-Style” IR for Japan’s northernmost main island is likely to be different from anything proposed by candidate locations in “major metropolitan areas”.
The aim of the IR expert panel is to obtain insights from specialists in order to establish ‘The basic stance on IR of Hokkaido prefecture’.
Hokkaido’s expert panel consists of nine prefecture-based specialists in various fields, including business, tourism, and the study of gambling addiction and measures to mitigate or prevent it.
Discussion points for the IR expert panel would include what IRs in local areas should be, in terms of facility size and function, according to Hokkaido prefecture’s update on the first meeting of the panel.
Experts from the Hokkaido Economic Federation and the local tourism industry expressed their expectations regarding having an IR in Hokkaido, while experts in gambling addiction treatment outlined their concerns at Saturday’s gathering.
A second meeting of the expert panel is scheduled for February 3.
