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Casinos on the way for Japan?

January 4, 2008
By Ken Worsley


Jiji Press reported on Wednesday that there may be plans for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to introduce a bill that would make casinos legal in Japan. Rumors of heavy pro-casino lobbying backed by groups from Las Vegas have been circulating for a few years now, and it looks like they are finally getting somewhere.

Back in 2006, the LDP announced plans to open a small number of casinos in Japan in order to evaluate how they would operate. The goal is to have the casinos be set up by cities and towns and run by private firms. Ultimately, lawmakers hope the establishment of casinos will help to draw in foreign tourists and provide a shot in the arm to economies in regional areas.

According to the news report, the proposed law would place a ban on putting ATMs in areas close to the casinos.

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Comments

8 Responses to “Casinos on the way for Japan?”

  1. WG on January 5th, 2008 1:06 am

    Is this really expected to genrate tax revenue? The whole idea of foreign tourists coming to Japan to gamble sounds crazy. If these casins are going to be opened in areas outside Tokyo, who would go anyway?

    90% of the people in the casinos will be Japanese. It’s just another tax, maybe moving money from one tax to another.

  2. Stevo on January 5th, 2008 2:22 am

    WG, it’s called the “stupid tax”.

  3. Garrett on January 5th, 2008 5:18 am

    Now if only there were a specific designer goods luxury tax, thus putting more of the tax burden on the selectively mentally deficient.

  4. John S on January 6th, 2008 10:25 pm

    Garrett, fat chance of that. Check “Japan’s new rich party like it’s 1989″

    http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINT2852020080106?rpc=611

  5. Albrecht on January 9th, 2008 1:16 am

    Once again, the LDP is a dollar short and a day late; Macau and Singapore are leading the pack here. Unless they capture tourist money, casinos are a regressive tax. Last I checked, Japan`s ability to attract foreign tourists is still laughably pathetic.

  6. Garrett on January 9th, 2008 5:53 am

    Well said, Albrecht. Casinos, in most cases, attract budget travelers more than high rollers - Japan’s not going to have an advantage there. Then there are the attendant issues. Does any major city in Japan actually want to become a little bit more like Macau?

  7. WG on January 9th, 2008 6:04 am

    High rollers go to Vegas. End of story. Something really special would have to be built to attract them. They could take a lead from Niseko.

    Does any major city in Japan actually want to become a little bit more like Macau?

    Most of Saitama?

  8. Garrett on January 9th, 2008 6:12 am

    Ha ha. Nice.
    Much of Saitama could be an object lesson an the problems associated with gambling without even having the gambling.

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