Tuesday, May 29, 2007

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Seven hundred billion yen can't be wrong

By Christopher Hunt

As Macau outpaces Las Vegas in gambling revenue and Singapore prepares to open its first casinos, the Japanese government has decided it can't wait any longer: The ruling Liberal Democratic party plans to finally legalize casino gambling by June of next year.

Always a sticky issue in Japan, with casino gambling still technically illegal - despite a $250 billion-a-year pachinko industry, with players exchanging prizes for cash outside pachinko parlors - the Liberal Democrats have decided Japan needs a piece of the burgeoning Asian gambling market for themselves.

And, according to a report in the Financial Times, the target date to pass a bill legalizing casino gambling is the end of the next ordinary parliamentary session, in June of 2008.

The big push: to increase tourism, revitalize local economies and increase tax revenues.

As part of a wider initiative to draw more visitors to Japan, the casinos would be huge entertainment complexes with theme parks, shops, restaurants, theaters, and hotels to try and diminish some of the negative perceptions towards gambling.

Estimates put potential revenue for just three Las Vegas-style casinos in Japan in the range of $Y700 billion.

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