Suguru Kanazawa, the mayor of Tomakomai city in Japan’s Hokkaido prefecture, is set to submit a bill to appoint Masato Machida as a deputy mayor. That is according to a report by the Hokkaido Shimbun news outlet.
Tomakomai (pictured), an economically-straitened industrial port, reprised late last year a long-expressed aim of building there an integrated resort (IR) with casino.
Mr Machida, 60 years old, has been serving as the head of the metropolis’ general policy bureau, according to Japan’s GGRAsia correspondent.
Mr Machida previously led Tomakomai’s IR promotional office, the body responsible for the city’s initiatives to try to have an IR, before its plan was eventually shelved.
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 – to host a casino resort as part of Japan’s liberalisation process for such business.
According to the update from the Hokkaido Shimbun, Mr Kanazawa is expected to submit to the city council’s regular meeting – scheduled to begin on February 19 – the bill to appoint Mr Machida as deputy mayor.
Mr Kanazawa had himself been elected as mayor of Tomakomai city in December.
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.
Pro-IR official Masato Machida set to become Tomakomai’s deputy mayor: report
