Attempts to make the Japanese casino resort foreign-only will be “constitutional doubt” by a bipartisan panel of Japanese lawmakers reportedly heard on Thursday.
Akiyoshi Tsuruoka, general manager and senior editor-in-chief of Game Capital Management, said Takeshi Iwaya, senior secretary of the IR Caucus (meaning the integrated resort caucus), raised constitutional issues and other questions at a nonpartisan pro-casino group meeting in Tokyo.
Mr Tsuruoka told GGRAsia: “Although IR restricted to foreigners introduced to some foreign countries was discussed, the IR caucus found that ‘foreign-only casinos’ were constitutionally suspected.
“The precondition for IR is to attract foreign tourists and not to exclude Japanese, but a commitment has been made to ‘set the scope of citizens’ positions and take necessary measures’ to impose certain restraint on the Japanese,” Tsuruoka said at the meeting.
But the devil may still be in the details in terms of what the entire Japanese parliament considers “necessary action.”
So far, the signals are mixed, suggesting the possibility of horse-trading needed to pass the first revitalization bill legalizing casino resort principles before the end of the current parliamentary session on Nov. 30.
According to previous media reports in Japan, the chairman of a bipartisan group of lawmakers set up on Oct. 7 to deal with the IR Promotion Bill (the first of both bills) suggested that they could water the creation of a foreigner-only resort.
It is known to win the support of two minority parties. The center-right Komeito (Komeito), supported by Sokakkai, an influential Buddhist social movement in Japan, and the center-leaning Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ).
On Oct. 10, Reuters reported that the first legislation to legalize casino resort principles would not include a ban on locals. However, it said pro-Casino lawmakers in Japan had agreed to consider setting restrictions on Japanese access to gaming venues, which could increase the chances of the bill passing this year.
“The government will take necessary measures regarding admission fees and capacity to prevent the negative impact of casino facilities by foreign visitors,” Reuters reported in a revised section of the legislation released to reporters on Thursday. 무료슬롯사이트
Sheldon Adelson, chairman of global casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corp and a leading supporter of Japan’s large casino resorts as a driving force for international tourism expansion and general economic growth, was asked about foreign-only issues during the company’s third-quarter earnings conference call on Wednesday.