Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JAN 2021年1月 亞博匯 32 COVER STORY partner) need to formulate a “basic agreement” and together create a joint development plan. This joint development plan needs prefectural-level assembly approval, after which it will be submitted to the national government as a hand-in-hand joint bid of operator and local-level government. After this, the national government will consider the joint applications from across the country and ultimately select up to three winning locations in what is referred to as the “first round.” Seven years after the first round, more licences may be issued. WHERE? Since late November 2019, when Hokkaido Governor Naomichi Suzuki announced that Hokkaido was shelving its bid for an IR for the foreseeable future, there have been no changes to the locations across Japan still competing in the IR race. There are four locations which have officially declared their interest, and four locations that are still talked about as possible late entrants to the race. Osaka , once the darling of the process, has seen a raft of operators withdraw to the point that US gaming giant MGM Resorts together with their Japanese partner ORIX are the one and only operator consortium remaining. Nevertheless, Japan’s second-largest city (after Tokyo) has been very upbeat on the IR process for a long time, with Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura and Osaka City Mayor Ichiro Matsui in lockstep on the bid. Located in the heart of Japan in the Kansai region on Honshu island, Osaka is often touted as the city most likely to see Japan’s first metropolitan IR open. Regional location Wakayama , under long-time Governor Yoshinobu Nisaka, is similarly gung ho about hosting an IR. In a May 2019 interview with IAG , Governor Nisaka said, “In my personal opinion, Operators are concerned about the possibility of an election loss leading to Yokohama dropping its IR bid. 運營商們擔心若橫濱在選舉中失利，可能會放棄 對IR的競標。