Image by Scott Law

Wakayama Delays IR Opening While Yokohama Risks Not Launching It At All

Article by : Helen Nov 25, 2020

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Wakayama Prefecture has recently revised the schedule of the integrated resort opening and postponed it to spring 2026. The decision was forced by the Central Government’s announcement about postponing the application period for IR licenses, potential location, and operator partners to October 2021. Besides, the government also established a basic policy draft that includes provisions and statements on how to deal with COVID-like infections and diseases, contacting rules for IR operators and local authorities, and measures that should be taken against gambling addiction.

The prefecture was planning to launch an integrated resort on the artificial island of Wakayama Marina City by the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, but the newly-released schedule would make it difficult to fulfill the original plan.

It may not come in time for the Expo, but I would like to proceed with our goal of opening the first IR in Japan.

Apart from extending the launch date, Wakayama is also postponing the end date for submitting the proposal documents from casino operators from 19 October 2020 to 15 January 2021. According to the prefecture’s officials, with the prefecture being on lockdown and many businesses being shut-down, the potential partners may need more time to prepare their offering properly. Suncity Group Holdings Japan Co., Ltd. and Clairvest Neem Ventures Co., Ltd. were the only 2 companies that submitted their offerings, but the recent schedule shift gives more time and chances for other operators to submit the applications.

While Wakayama is delaying the opening date for the IR, the situation in Yokohama is even worse, as an upcoming referendum can ruin the prefecture’s dreams of opening the IR. public opinion about gambling development in Japan has been mainly negative, but Yokohama’s gambling opposition has been the strongest one, with the polls showing 3-to-1 opposition to IR development in Yokohama prefecture. It’s clear that public opposition for the IR in Yokohama is very persistent. The local resident group “Yokohama Citizens’ Group to Decide on a Casino” has managed to exceed the requirements on the number of needed signatures for holding a referendum on opening the IR in Yokohama. While the initial requirement was to collect 62,500 signatures, the group has already collected more than 156,000, calling into question the prefecture’s initial plan to launch the IR.

Anyway, it’s still not clear whether the referendum will be held or not. First of all, Mayor Fumiko Hayashi should confirm that all the collected signatures are valid and enough for proceeding. If confirmed, she will submit a referendum ordinance proposal to the city council. The latter, in turn, will have to vote on whether to move on with the referendum or not. Interestingly, the city is governed by the Liberal Democratic Party that supports the growth of the gambling industry in the country, which casts doubt on whether the ordinance will be adopted.

There’s one more signature-gathering campaign, “Recall Movement Starting from One Person,” that has a plan in case the will of the people will be ignored. As of now, they have collected over 40,000 signatures to recall Mayor Hayashi and thus, stop the IR development. However, to get what they want, half a million votes should be collected, which can be done only if the referendum is not held.

Before any of these scenarios come true, the newly-established IR Promotion Council in Yokohama will be trying hard to change public opening about the IR process and highlight the potential benefits of launching the IR in the region.