Suguru Kanazawa, the new mayor of the Japanese city of Tomakomai (pictured), in Japan’s Hokkaido prefecture, says the local authorities will continue preparatory work tied to their long-expressed aim of building there an integrated resort (IR) with casino.
Mr Kanazawa made the remarks on Wednesday, while presenting his policy address at the opening of the regular session of the Tomakomai city council, according to GGRAsia’s Japan correspondent.
“The city is going ahead with the international resort plan, including having an IR,” stated the official.
“The city is restructuring the initiatives regarding the IR promotion, and cooperating with the central government, and the Hokkaido prefecture, to bring private investments to the area around the New Chitose Airport,” he added.
Mr Kanazawa said additionally that the city authorities were “going to discuss the IR promotion policy with the Hokkaido prefectural government”.
In November 2019, Hokkaido had passed up the chance of making a pitch to the country’s government – during a first window for local authority applications – regarding hosting a casino resort as part of Japan’s liberalisation process for such business.
Tomakomai (pictured), an economically-straitened industrial port, reprised late last year a long-expressed aim of having an IR.
So far in Japan, only one IR scheme, the JPY1.27-trillion (US$8.38-billion currently) MGM Osaka, has been approved. That project is under development, and is due to open in 2030.
In late November, the governor of Nagasaki prefecture told reporters it had received a “questionnaire” that month from the Japan Tourism Agency regarding the country’s IR policy. The official did not clarify whether the new questionnaire might signal the countdown to a new application phase for additional casino resort licences in the country.
Mayor of Tomakomai says Japanese city keen on hosting an IR, seeks Hokkaido prefecture backing
