Tomakomai city (pictured), an economically-straitened industrial port in the Japanese island prefecture of Hokkaido, witnessed this week a meeting of people who support a long-expressed aim of building there an integrated resort (IR) with casino.
According to information reviewed by GGRAsia’s Japan correspondent, the gathering of the Tomakomai IR promotion association was the first such meeting since financial year 2019.
The guest speaker at Monday’s event was Makoto Nakagawa, former secretary general of the IR Promotion Bureau at national-government level, and who led the Cabinet Office team in steering the country’s IR Act.
The Tomakomai city government has over the years supported the principle of hosting an IR in that community.
According to GGRAsia’s correspondent, the city’s financial-year 2024 policy document includes an IR as part of its economic revitalisation proposals.
The document states: “The city is going to go ahead with those initiatives in the strategy, such as the promotion of the logistics industry around the Tomakomai coastal area and the port, and the promotion of [an] IR around the New Chitose Airport.”
The latter is an international airport located south of Chitose and northeast of Tomakomai, serving a hinterland that includes the metropolitan area of Sapporo, Hokkaido’s capital.
The Tomakomai government policy document adds: “In terms of the IR initiative, the city continues to work with the Hokkaido government for it to establish its IR concept.”
In November 2019, Hokkaido governor Naomichi Suzuki passed up the chance of making a pitch to the country’s government – during a first window for local authority applications – to host a casino resort as part of Japan’s liberalisation process for such business.
At the time, environmental concerns were cited as one reason for Hokkaido not pressing ahead with the idea.
Though Mr Suzuki said in the “long run” he would like Hokkaido to host an IR.
Monday’s meeting of Tomakomai IR promotion association was the same day that over 70 percent of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) members of the Hokkaido prefectural assembly – the majority political grouping in that chamber – attended a working group pushing for an IR on Hokkaido.
Former national government official Mr Nakagawa was also a guest speaker at the latter gathering.
A third meeting is due in the autumn for the IR working group of the Hokkaido prefecture LDP representatives.
