Major step for coming Japanese casino market

In Japan and legislation is set to take effect from Monday that will lay out the basic rules governing the nation’s planned trio of integrated casino resorts as well as the specific duties and responsibilities of the new Casino Management Board regulator.

According to a report from GGRAsia, the Integrated Resorts Implementation Act was ratified in the summer of 2018 and is due to allow three disparate Japanese jurisdictions to host Las Vegas-style developments complete with casinos. The source detailed that these coming gambling-friendly venues are to be run under 40-year licenses and permitted to offer a large range of currently banned games including two types of baccarat and eight derivations of poker.

Subsequent schedule:

The enactment of the Integrated Resorts Implementation Act from July 19 reportedly comes after the government of Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga completed a public consultation period some ten weeks ago and will allow communities hoping to feature one of the coming casinos to further refine their proposed submissions. Runners in the race for a local gambling license, which already encompass Nagasaki Prefecture and Wakayama Prefecture as well as the giant cities of Yokohama and Osaka, are now purportedly in the process of selecting a preferred foreign operating partner in advance of submitting their final plans to a panel of federal selectors before the expiration of an April of 2022 deadline.

Affected areas:

GGRAsia reported that the tenets of the Integrated Resorts Implementation Act cover disparate fields such as the licensing procedures for casinos and the types of required background checks in addition to authorized games and rules. The soon-to-be-implemented legislation moreover purportedly deals with essential technical and structural standards, lays out how venues should calculate gross gaming revenues and what internal controls must be employed to help prevent money laundering and problem gambling.

Industrious intent:

Japanese scholar Toru Mihara reportedly told the source that the coming legislation was designed to be ‘sufficiently stringent’ to help ensure the ‘integrity and safety’ of the Asian nation’s coming casino industry and furthermore lays out just who can take part in such schemes. The expert purportedly disclosed that the Integrated Resorts Implementation Act will additionally establish a raft of employee verification protocols while simultaneously setting out the precise definition of a gaming area.

Health hold-up:

Although it had initially been forecast that the first of Japan’s three integrated casino resorts would open by the end of 2025, the appearance of the coronavirus pandemic saw the premier of the Integrated Resorts Implementation Act delayed as the government instead concentrated on combatting the spread of the potentially-lethal ailment. This interruption means that these developments with their multiple hotels, conference facilities, casinos, restaurants and retail elements are now not likely to begin welcoming guests much before 2030.