In February, Hokkaido made the decision not to include the costs for a future IR bid in its annual accounting and operating budget.
Governor Naomichi Suzuki, who had hoped for the project to go ahead, at first clarified his stance that he was considering Tomakomai city and businesses who wanted to proceed and as such wanted to include costs in the budget. However, he also had to take into account the growing opposition to its inclusion as well as public criticism of IRs following corruption allegations in the Diet.
The Hokkaido government had been aiming for an IR bid, but has now been forced to reconsider its policy given how the decision has been received in the prefecture and the aforementioned corruption cases.
In Rusutsu village, which was actively participating in the venture, Kamori Kanko (Sapporo) was intending to enter into an IR business partnership with Chinese company 500.com to operate a hotel and ski resort. Instead, Kimihito Kamori, the president of Kamori Kanko, was charged with bribery, ruining his reputation and ensuring that proceeding with a bid was no longer possible.
A representative of Tomakomai city, a top candidate for an IR facility, told <i>IAG</i>, “The city council will have some questions regarding the budget and IR, but there is no plan for a comment from Mayor Hirofumi Iwakura at the moment.”
Further, in response to whether there would be budgetary consideration to IRs in the future, he said, “We plan a large-scale development using the MA platform (Minato, Tokyo), and to proceed with the international resort concept promoted by the city.
“We are thinking about the future of our city with the declining birthrate and aging population.”
Mayor Iwakura is in his fourth term. His election promise is tied to an IR bid and the local business community has been actively lobbying with the IR Promotion Council, but it seems he is becoming increasingly reluctant to go down the IR path.
