Inside Asian Gaming

IAG MAY 2019年5月 亞博匯 84 JAPAN B efore he was elected Wakayama Prefecture’s governor in 2006, Yoshinobu Nisaka served nearly 30 years in Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and its predecessors. After a professional lifetime spent in the economic development sector, it’s no surprise that Nisaka is a leading advocate of integrated resorts, among the best growth opportunities to emerge in Japan since economic stagnation began in the early 1990s. It’s also no surprise that Nisaka, born in Wakayama City in 1950, wants to bring an IR to his hometown, which, like other so-called regional areas in Japan, has experienced long term migration of business and residents, especially young people, to big cities. ForWakayama, thatmeans Osaka, Japan’s third largest city, just over an hour away, heart of the Kansai region with a population of more than 22 million. Nisaka also served three years as Japan’s ambassador to Brunei, but his stint as a diplomat doesn’t prevent him from speaking his mind. In 2017, he made news by declaring to Inside Asian Gaming that Wakamaya casinos should be open to foreigners only, a belief he no longer holds. Governor Nisaka, who won his fourth term in November, pulled no punches in this latest interview via a translator with IAG Editor at Large Muhammad Cohen. Muhammad Cohen: What makes Wakayama the right choice for a regional IR? Governor Yoshinobu Nisaka: I t’s not my just opinion: several international IR operators have made four strong points. First, Wakayama is very close to Kansai International Airport, one of the largest airports in Japan. “Withothercandidatesites,operatorsneedtostartdeveloping infrastructure or have to fill the land or start from scratch, but in Wakayama, it’s immediately ready for development.” 「對於其他的候選地點，運營商們還需要進行基礎設施建設、或者填地、甚 至從頭開始，但是在和歌山，已經可以立即開始發展了。」