Hokkaido prefecture in Japan has launched a survey of all 179 of the island’s local governments on the topic of whether to have an integrated resort (IR) with a casino.
It was described on Saturday by the Hokkaido Shimbun news outlet 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.
According to the news outlet, the survey included the questions: “Are you interested in having an IR in your own area?”; and “Are you interested in having an IR in Hokkaido prefecture?” The questions were in multiple choice form, with space for respondent authorities to give reasons for their answer.
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 (pictured in a file photo), 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, a senior Tomakomai official indicated the city would continue preparatory work tied to its long-expressed aim of having an IR.
Earlier this month, Japanese news outlet Bungeishunju suggested – citing sources it do not identify – that a number of major communities in Japan, including Hokkaido, Tokyo, Aichi, and Nagasaki, had all said ‘yes’ to the principle of bidding to host an IR in any fresh round of applications.
That media source said those places had responded in the affirmative to a survey in November last year by the Japan Tourism Agency, a body under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
Bungeishunju also suggested that a new location – within Kanagawa prefecture – has been mentioned as a potential site for an IR in any fresh round of applications. It is the site of the current Oppama Plant of Nissan Motor Co Ltd, at Yokosuka, south of the prefectural capital, Yokohama.
In June this year, a Japanese government official had said the opening of a new round of IR hosting applications was “not far off”. 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.
(Updated 4.37pm, Aug 26)
