Japan’s IR/Casino Bill Passes Lower House Committee Despite Opposition

A Lower House panel in Japan’s Diet passed before today the Integrated Resort Implementation Bill despite heavy protests from opposition parties, local news outlet that the Japan Times reports.

The piece now needs approval from the full Lower House floor prior to being known to the Diet’s Upper House. Lawmakers have up before June 20 to vote throughout the bill prior to the end of the year’s regular session.

But, according to reports from several local news outlets, the ruling Prime Minister Shinzo Abe-led Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner Komeito could be planning to extend the session by several weeks to provide plenty of time for the legislation’s eventual enactment.

LDP General Council Chairman Wataru Takeshita said today at a press conference after the affirmative vote which they’d seem to secure an official approval from the Lower House early next week. The item will then be placed before Upper House lawmakers for only as rapid passing.

The IR Implementation Bill is your second item of legislation of the two-phase process for the legalization of casino gambling within integrated resorts.

The Friday vote the bill was accompanied by heavy objections to the piece from opposition parties. Members of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the Japanese Communist Party, and the Democratic Party once again voiced worries which too little time has been spent by legislators to pay due attention to unique issues linked to the opening casinos in the nation, including the possible increase of gambling addiction rates in a time when Japan is struggling with lots of residents’ obsession with pachinko gaming.

Opposition members once again mentioned surveys from recent decades, according to which casino centers would be more popular with Japanese residents and less so with international visitors.

The ruling parties have long promoted the legalization of casino gambling and the establishment of integrated hotels that would be home to the country ’s casinos since a possible driver of their future development of Japan’s tourism industry.

Besides key details and prerequisites about the future structure of integrated hotels in the nation, the IR Implementation Bill also comprises responsible gambling rules and steps. Under those principles, casinos may represent only 3% of the entire floor of the larger hotels. Additionally, residents of the nation will be permitted only 10 casino visits a month and will be required to pay an entry fee in order to be admitted to the gaming floor.

Based on preliminary forecasts, three integrated hotels with gaming flooring could annually create gambling earnings of between $10 billion and $25 billion, which could put Japan one of the planet ’s largest casino hubs. But, opposition members have repeatedly pointed out that a plan that foundations growth on gambling “is incorrect and obsolete. ”

Another issue raised by the resistance both on previous occasions and ahead of today’s election originated from a provision in the Implementation Bill under which a casino regulation committee will be established to oversee the country ’s gaming market. The provision further reads that employees of casino operators themselves may be part of that committee. However, resistance members questioned the impartiality of a regulatory body that’s comprised of business stakeholders.