[Typhoon]

Hokkaido Shimbun: Hokkaido governor declares support for casino promotion

Remarkably bad timing. Some casinos in Las Vegas are imploding.

[Mulboyne]

Kyodo via Japan today: Cities propose creation of casino zone in Huis Ten Bosch

The city of Sasebo and nearby municipalities proposed Monday that a designated structural reform district be established to enable the opening of a casino for foreign tourists at the Huis Ten Bosch theme park in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture. The Cabinet Office is expected to decide on whether to approve the proposal, made by four cities in Nagasaki Prefecture and two municipalities in neighboring Saga Prefecture, by the end of September. Under the proposal, the city of Sasebo alone or a consortium of Sasebo and other local governments will set up a casino, and the private sector will operate it under the supervision of the central government. The city of Sasebo estimates that the annual number of visitors to the casino would total 220,000 and expects the casino to generate an economic impact worth 100 billion yen as well as 7,700 jobs in the first fiscal year. The Cabinet Office has so far received 15 proposals for casinos but all of them have been rejected as the Justice Ministry said it would be difficult to exempt such special zones from the prohibition of gambling.

[Greji]

Kyodo via Japan today: Cities propose creation of casino zone in Huis Ten Bosch

JRA has a major off-course betting office immediately next to Huis-Ten Bosch and it is going to be difficult if not impossible for the government to get their permission to even begin amending the law. The clout they have in government gaming is formidable and not many politicians will want to go on public record as being against them.

[Mulboyne]

Reuters: Russia bans all gambling and shuts casinos

Russia closed down its casinos overnight as gambling was banned nationwide, a move the industry says could throw a third of a million people out of work. The July 1 ban shut gaming halls, from gaudy casinos crowned by extravagant neon structures to dingy dwellings containing a handful of slot machines. "I feel terrible. We just let 1,000 people go," said Yuri Boyev, general director at Metelitsa, an upmarket casino where billionaires rolled the dice and Russia's gas giant Gazprom held a lavish Christmas party. Vladimir Putin, now prime minister, came up with the idea in 2006 when he was president after the Interior Ministry linked several gaming operations in Moscow to Georgian organized crime. The Kremlin plans to restrict gambling to Las Vegas-style gaming zones in four rarely visited regions deemed to need investment, including one near the North Korea border, but nothing has been built and critics say the zones will fail. Though gaming establishments knew the shutdown date for at least a year, few thought the government would go through with it, but officials moved in overnight to close them down. The industry says the ban will axe at least 300,000 jobs but officials in Moscow put the national figure at only 11,500.

Rows of slot machines, usually blinking around the clock in smoky, crowded halls, lay dormant and wrapped in cellophane. Moscow deputy mayor Sergei Baidakov, watching men dismantle poker tables and lay roulette wheels on the floor, said the state was ready to thwart any big to move gambling underground. "We are confident we will control the situation," he said. He said the ban was to protect the health of society. Many critics in the gambling industry say it has more to do with Russia's poor ties with Georgia. Georgians are thought to run many Russian gaming halls. City police stood on guard in case of protests by disgruntled former workers in the popular gaming halls that have sprouted since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and now pepper Russia's cities. A hotline was set up Wednesday to report on those suspected of operating illegal gambling, Itar-Tass reported. Moscow had around 550 gambling places, including 30 casinos in prime spots, symbolizing the capital's love of excess. Midnight on Novy Arbat street, the heart of the gambling scene, was muted as its flashing lights and loud music were turned off for the first time in over a decade. "I'm upset but I guess I'll have a little rest and re-visit my job situation in August," said Elena, a slot machine operator who has worked in the gaming business for five years.

Each year gaming brought in up to $7 billion and paid $1 billion in tax, a gap the industry says will cause the state a budget headache. The development replacement zones -- in southern Krasnodar, the Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad, east Siberia's Altai region and the Far East -- require investment of up to $40 billion and have not been built. "The zones have no roads, water or electricity. We fulfilled the law by shutting, the government did not fulfill it as the zones are not ready yet," said casino director Boyev. The industry has raised eyebrows at government guarantees of work in restaurants and shopping centers that are to replace casinos when unemployment in Russia has hit an eight-year high. But some addicted gamblers thought the ban might help them. "Maybe this is all a good thing. I'm a family man and I come here every day and lose all my money. I'll be happy to see them go," said a 40-year-old Muscovite near the flashy Shangri-La casino in the city center.

[Mulboyne]

Kamei has just suggested that Okinawa could become a special casino zone to boost the economy. There's an Asahi report in Japanese here.

[Number11]

I think the idea has been trotted out about five times in the last 30 years, but the boat/bicycle/horse racing cartel joins hands with the pachinko cartel to get the lottery cartel to have the Diet cartel squash it every time.

[Mulboyne]

I think the idea has been trotted out about five times in the last 30 years, but the boat/bicycle/horse racing cartel joins hands with the pachinko cartel to get the lottery cartel to have the Diet cartel squash it every time.

I don't believe casinos are imminent in Japan and, as you say, there are plenty of vested interests opposed to the idea. However, the casino lobby thinks it has both sides of the pachinko business onside now.

[Doctor Stop]

However, the casino lobby thinks it has both sides of the pachinko business onside now.

That's the North Korean side and the South Korean side?

[Kanchou]

As a libertarian, I'm all for using casinos, legalization of marijuana, etc, to generate tax revenue, create jobs, etc... people's personal dislike of certain things have done a lot to hurt ways an economy and a government can support itself.

On the other hand, that doesn't mean I'd actually wish to go to such casinos (or use legalized marijuana, etc), it simply means that I don't think something that's essentially harmless should be illegal when it can be used for a good cause.

Just think of the education, public works, etc that revenues like that can pay for, which creates even more jobs, which give even more back into the economy, and so on.

[Greji]

I don't believe casinos are imminent in Japan and, as you say, there are plenty of vested interests opposed to the idea. However, the casino lobby thinks it has both sides of the pachinko business onside now.

The only thing is that pachinko doesn't establish any precedents for legalizing casinos, as pachinko parlors are not covered by the gaming laws of Japan, nor are they considered gambling by government definition for regulation.

So other than any political capital the shakers and movers of the pachinko industry might personally have, they don't really have anything to add to the casino efforts.

[Mulboyne]

LVRJ: IGT closing its Japan operations

Slot machine giant International Game Technology said Thursday it will close its operations in Japan later this year. In a brief statement, the Reno-based company said the closure would include severance charges of about $20 million. IGT said the decision was made because of "ongoing difficult market conditions and lack of strategic fit." Japan's slot machine business has been volatile over the past few years. In fiscal year 2007, IGT shipped 29,800 machines to Japan. That figure fell to 6,000 machines in 2008 and 3,775 machines in 2009. JP Morgan gaming analyst Joe Greff estimated the company would ship just over 2,000 machines this year. "Given the capital investment required for this business, as well as the minimal earnings impact, we do not see the decision to end operations as a negative aspect of the IGT story," Greff told investors. Analysts said the Japanese slot machine market has experienced several legislative changes over the past few years, which has made the games less desirable to customers. "Japan has always been an erratic, hit or miss, low margin market for (IGT), and we believe making the conscious decision to stop trying to be all things to all customers is the right move by new management," Macquarie Securities gaming analyst Joel Simkins said in a research note.

[Mulboyne]

There have been calls for some years now for a liberalization of current gambling laws to allow casinos to operate in Japan. This thread (started in 2002) has some details of previous discussions. In a slightly different angle, Chiba governor Kensaku Morita is now suggesting that a casino be set up at Narita Airport and is considering setting up a team to look at the idea. He proposed, at a press conference, that the casino be initially aimed at foreign travellers to see how it fares. Morita claimed that it would help Narita counter growing competition from Haneda. Kosaburo Morinaka, president of Narita International Airport Corporation, is less enamoured with the idea and suggested that there might be additional security concerns. He also wondered whether Japan really wanted casinos. As the other thread notes, new legislation would be required for any such move and progress towards this change remains slow, despite the support of some local governments and and Diet members.

Source (Japanese)

[Mulboyne]

Here's a Times article:

Japan may gamble on tourist-only casinos

[Kaiju]

What's this, a 'Gaijin Only' establishmet in Japan? That is something new.

[Mulboyne]

What's this, a 'Gaijin Only' establishmet in Japan? That is something new.

There are a few more.

[Christoff]

There are a few more.

I lol'ed

[Level3]

and visiting hours at the "detention centers" are only during bank hours on weekdays?!
No weekend or holiday visits? No evening visits?
Better hope my friends don't like, have jobs or anything.

Oh, I forgot, all gaijin are unemployed scum sucking off the welfare teat (except gaijin can't collect welfare) so they have plenty of time to drop by one of Japan's conveniently located quasi-jails to provide support to friend who is merely "guilty" of asking for a refugee visa.

[Ganma]

Let me guess. They'll have police harassing people in the casino for their private information. Sounds like a real success story.

[Samurai_Jerk]

except gaijin can't collect welfare

Not true. As long as you are in status and have been paying into the system you can collect the same kind of welfare and unemployment benefits as a Japanese national or permanent resident.

[Kanchou]

He also wondered whether Japan really wanted casinos.

panchinko, kyoutei, keiba, keirin, auto race, takarakuji...

RIIIIIGHT...

[bolt_krank]

panchinko, kyoutei, keiba, keirin, auto race, takarakuji...

RIIIIIGHT...

That's what I was going to say... it's as if they haven't got enough ways for poor people to lose their leftover money.

[Mulboyne]

The fact that there are popular forms of legal gambling in Japan doesn't mean there aren't strong constituencies in Japan opposed to casinos.

In Britain, there was a high profile project to introduce "super casinos" and the government got as far as drawing up a short list of locations. All were eager to host them for the same reason Japanese prefectures want them: tax revenue. However, there was a public backlash against the idea and the government shelved it. Something similar is very possible in Japan when you consider how the campaign against ATMs in pachinko parlours has meant that diffusion remains very low.

[Yokohammer]

I'm sort of on the fence about this casino idea myself.

Melbourne introduced casinos a while back in an attempt to boost the economy. The strategy worked to some degree, but it has also introduced plenty of fresh problems. Rampant gambling addition and crime (organized and otherwise) being the two most obvious.

[Kanchou]

The fact that there are popular forms of legal gambling in Japan doesn't mean there aren't strong constituencies in Japan opposed to casinos.

Most definitely. But the demand is there, and there's no denying the good that it can do if the revenues are put to something good like better schools and toll-free highways... just imagine the extra boost to the economy if people could spend another 10,000 yen on every vacation they go by car, and the extra gas tax revenue they'd make because people are more likely to actually go on vacation.

And I think the good it does to education would help to counteract the problems they might cause with gambling addiction, etc...

[dimwit]

I'm all in favor of idiot taxes, which is essentially what casinos are.

[Mike Oxlong]

I'm wondering if these are not intended to be especially for Chinese tourists...

[Samurai_Jerk]

Melbourne introduced casinos a while back in an attempt to boost the economy. The strategy worked to some degree, but it has also introduced plenty of fresh problems. Rampant gambling addition and crime (organized and otherwise) being the two most obvious.

A lot of those problems can be avoided by only letting non-resident foreigners use them, which seems to be the plan.

[Greji]

A lot of those problems can be avoided by only letting non-resident foreigners use them, which seems to be the plan.

Actually SJ, by limiting them to FGs only, they are presenting a guise to get the plan approved. All gambling in Japan is illegal with the exception of government operated gambling. The government entities will not accept casinos and they throw a lot of weight in the amount of government take out (taxes). Casinos would essentially bankrupt a couple of these entities and so collectively, they will fight casino establishment to the last.

If they limit casinos to fgs only, they feel that the politicians may vote for this, thinking that it will not piss off the government gambling people. Then, once in place, they can work to have them legally opened to Japanese at a later date.

Nice try, but this dog don't hunt. JRA among others, are already gearing up against it...

[Mulboyne]

The push for casinos was struggling even before the LDP lost to the DPJ. Although the DPJ is broadly against the idea, they also want to promote tourism. Casino lobbyists have therefore reformulated their campaign along "pro-tourism" lines. As Greji notes, the idea of limiting access to foreign visitors is designed to mollify domestic opponents.

However, as Greji also points out, opponents don't believe for a moment that such restrictions would apply for long and so are lining up to shoot down this idea in the early stages.

There aren't really any surveys to confirm it one way or another but I suspect that a lot of communities in Japan would be uneasy about seeing casinos set up nearby. However, I'm pretty certain that if you told people they were going to host hordes of foreign gamblers, their opposition would harden.

[Kanchou]

Maybe they can just put the casinos on Ainu owned property