Shigeru Ishiba (pictured), due to succeed Fumio Kishida as Japan’s prime minister, has a track record – when in previous ministerial roles – of speaking in favour of the country’s policy of having integrated resorts (IRs) each with a casino. That is according to information reviewed by GGRAsia’s Japan correspondent.
On Friday, the currently-governing Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP) held an election for its presidency. LDP insider Mr Ishiba, from a prominent political family in Japan, was chosen after a second-round runoff.
On Tuesday (October 1), he was poised to be appointed as the next prime minister, at an extraordinary meeting of the country’s two-chamber parliament, the Diet. Mr Ishiba has meanwhile already said he will call a general election for October 27, one year ahead of scheduled.
According to Cabinet Office information available in English, from September 2014 to August 2016, he was the Minister of State for the Promotion of Overcoming Population Decline and Vitalizing Local Economy in Japan.
Based on a review of public statements by Mr Ishiba, in September 2020 when he previously ran for the LDP presidency, he had stated: “It is important to discuss the economic feasibility of each of the IR plans, rather than discussing whether a casino is good or not.”
He added at the time, referring to Singapore’s casino duopoly, which started operating in 2010: “When I was in charge of the LDP Secretariat-General, I visited IRs in Singapore and spent a considerable amount of time in order to understand how they work. The IRs [there] have implemented thorough anti-fraud and safety measures. I am not against the IR policy.”
In March 2019 at an IR event in Japan’s Hokkaido prefecture, he made a keynote speech titled “The Japan IR and a future vision which Hokkaido should aim for.”
Hokkaido had expressed interest in hosting a casino resort to support economic growth, but in November 2019 dropped out of consideration for an initial round of liberalisation. Groupings in Hokkaido have this year shown interest in taking part in any follow-up round of liberalisation.
So far only one location – Osaka – has been approved to host a casino resort in Japan. The JPY1.27 trillion (US$8.93 billion currently) MGM Osaka is a venture between MGM Resorts International, Japan’s Orix Corp, and a number of other domestic investors with minority interests. The property is due to open in late 2030.
MGM Resorts is the parent of Macau casino operator MGM China Holdings Ltd.
