Inside Asian Gaming

IAG SEP 2021年9月 亞博匯 12 ANTI-IR CAMPAIGNER WINS YOKOHAMA MAYORAL ELECTION 反IR人士山中竹春 當選贏得橫濱市長選舉 YOKOHAMA’S IR DREAM appears over for now, with anti- IR campaigner and former Yokohama City University Professor Takeharu Yamanaka having won the mayoral election. The 48-year-old, who had the official backing of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the support of the Japan Communist Party, has promised to end Yokohama’s IR bid, having described casinos as a “poison apple”. The final tally saw Yamanaka receive 506,392 votes or 33.59%, ahead of pre-election favorite Hachiro Okonogi with 325,947 (21.62%) and incumbent mayor Fumiko Hayashi with 196,926 (13.06%). Joji Kokuryo, Managing Director of Bay City Ventures, speaking to IAG on election night, said, “Yamanaka’s campaign clearly gained steam in the last two weeks. His sometimes over-the-top anti-IR stance was effective in confirming that he would put an end to the unpopular policy in the city. He showed a timely skill set, promoting his experience in data science and vaccination studies to show that he is best suited to lead the city through the current COVID crisis. “Unless there is a sudden change in power, this is the end [for any IR in Yokohama] for at least the next four years. Those with hope that the LDP majority in the city council could still keep the IR bid alive need only to look at that fact that 30 of the 36 LDP council members publicly supported Okonogi’s anti-IR platform. It is beyond clear that these council members are not going to bet their political careers on the IR development policy.” 隨著反IR人士 及橫濱市立大學教授山中竹春贏下市長選舉，橫濱 的IR之路似乎步入終局。 現年48歲的山中竹春獲得日本立憲民主黨及日本共產黨的支 持，他曾將賭場形容為「毒蘋果」，並承諾將終止橫濱的IR競標。 最終計票結果顯示，山中竹春獲得506,392張（33.59%）選票， 高於選前熱門候選人小此木八朗325,947張選票（21.62%）和現任 市長林文子196,926張選票（13.06%）。 Bay City Ventures董事總經理國領城 児 表示在接受《亞博匯》 採訪時表示：「山中竹春的競選在過去兩週明顯取得進展。其時有 的表達反對IR的立場證實了他將結束在該城市不受歡迎的政策。 他所展示的技能及其在數據科學和疫苗接種研究方面的經驗，都 表明他較適合領導這座城市渡過當前的新冠危機。」 「除非政權發生突然變化，否則至少在接下來的四年裡（橫濱 的IR）都沒有任何機會。那些希望自民黨取得市議會中多數席位以 保證繼續推進IR的人士只需看看這個事實，即36名自民黨議員中 有30名公開支持小此木的反對IR立場。顯然，這些人員不會將他們 的政治生涯押在IR的發展政策之上。」