Petice je adresována: Committee on Petitions (Petitionsausschuß)

"If Japan starts applying for integrated resorts (IRs), including casinos, there is a possibility that out-of-game infrastructure requirements will be eased," Tomohiro Takagi (pictured), partner at law firm Nishimura & Asahi (Japan), told GGRAsia. 동행복권파워볼

He added that these conditions were set at an administrative level, not part of Japan's casino law, and therefore needed to be decided by the national government. According to recent comments by Japan's former senior tourism official Norifumi Ide, IR infrastructure conditions are set at the cabinet level.

The government took a "conservative" approach in the first round of screening for IR applications, Mr Takagi suggested.

Matters relating to minimum-scale requirements for IR's core non-gaming facilities, such as meeting, incentives, meeting and exhibition (MICE) space and hotel accommodation amounts, "will be determined by the government's [Cabinet] Order... There is no need for parliamentary approval to ease the requirement," he explained.

He was speaking to GGRASIA on the sidelines of the recent Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asian Casino Industry Trade Fair and Conference in Macau.

In the first round of applications, which were submitted to the government in April 2022 and the results were released last year, only two of the Japanese municipalities' applicants, Osaka and Nagasaki, were able to develop plans in line with the government's infrastructure expectations.

Only Osaka was considered to have a viable plan and was granted construction permits. MGM Osaka's current initial investment is 1.27 trillion yen (US$8.1 billion).

In May, Ide said local authorities should soon start a second round to develop the Japanese casino sector as a stimulus for inbound tourism. But he also said the current size requirement for IR facilities was "fine for the metropolitan area but not easy to meet for (other) areas."

This is not the first time the idea of reducing IR facility requirements has been mentioned.

In comments from the G2E Asia panel, lawyer Takagi noted that conditions related to corporate and game taxes on Japan's early industries may also have contributed to the tepid response of international investors in the first round of filings.

In the framework of the application, local governments should team up with private sector partners. Partners should then obtain approval, and the public-private arrangement should create an 'IR Regional Development Plan' for central approval. The first application was expected to have a maximum of three licenses available.

Mr Tagaki confirmed to GGRAsia that under Japan's IR law, the maximum allowed number of IR sites will be reviewed seven years after national government approval for up to three sites.