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Legislation

Japan – Casino bill passes the lower house in Japan

By - 6 December 2016

The next stage of the legislative process needed to allow casinos in Japan has now been completed with the lower house of the Diet passing the bill to legalise casinos on Tuesday.

A parliamentary spokesperson said: “The bill passed through the chamber and will be sent to the upper house later today [Wednesday].”

With the upper house controlled by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, who support the bill, its likelihood of being approved is seen as being high.

The LDP wants to approve the bill before the current parliamentary session ends on December 14.

Some opposition members staged a protest and walked out of the chamber before the vote rather than cast their vote.

MGM CEO James Murren recently highlighted Tokyo, Yokohama or Osaka as potential sites for a casino development for which MGM said it would be prepared to invest $10bn.

Over 20 localities in Japan showed interest in hosting casino resorts, which would also include hotels, convention facilities, retail, theme parks and entertainment facilities with support particularly strong in Osaka and Yokohama.

For Caesars the chance to operate in Japane would make up for missing the boat in Macau.

Jan Jones Blackhurst, Government Relations for Caesars Entertainment, said: “We’re very encouraged with the progress. We think the legalization would be excellent for job creation and growth of tourism, and we would be very interested in being part of the process if it moves forward.”

Howard Klein, Publisher and Publisher of The House Edge casino investment site, believes Las Vegas Sands, perhaps the dominant US force in Asia with its casinos in Macau and Singapore is best placed.

He said: “LVS has a solid track record in Macau, stress on mass tourism as a basic marketing mantra, strong financials, excellent operating margins and several years of lobbying already in the books. LVS, by now, has separated the sheep from the goats and knows exactly who the decision makers will be. Another small but interesting nugget from our conversations specific to LVS is the perception among Japanese decision makers of the close ties LVS’s Sheldon Adelson has with President-Elect Donald Trump. Adelson was an early supporter of Trump, a big donor and an ideological soul mate. While in the greater scheme of things this may have little resonance, it is a fact and facts are things Japanese legislators and regulators appreciate. No, not quid pro quos at all. Nobody is suggesting that at all. But as one of our Japanese friends told me, loosely translated: “It may not help, but it sure can’t hurt.”

“Our bottom line is this, we think LVS stands extremely well positioned to win a license, probably the best of all contenders going in,” he added. “Adelson totes no baggage in previous operations in Japan; there have been skirmishes here and there but nothing that would be unto itself a deal killer, according to our sources. At this point, we don’t see any minuses provided the enabling legislation is so restrictive that LVS decides to downscale or perhaps even pass the market entirely and go on to its Vietnam initiative.”

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