Gaming insights Gaming

Japan – the boy who cried wolf

Written by Ben Blaschke

It seems that April 2015 is the latest date to look forward to in the ongoing battle to legalize casino gaming in Japan. April is when the local elections are due to take place and from what we’re being told, the Japanese Cabinet has basically put any further discussion of the issue on hold until then in order to avoid any backlash over what is a divisive issue.

But our advice is not to hold your breath. Japan’s casino gaming debate has been going on for so long we’ve learned to take any suggestion of actual progress being made with a grain of salt. We’ve heard it all before.

Back in the early 2000s, when the green light was given to the “new Macau”, a number of people were actively pushing to get the ball rolling as soon as possible because “we have to beat Japan.” As it turns out, that race may as well have been between Usain Bolt and a snail – although even a snail moves faster than Japan’s gaming industry.

There have been plenty of false starts along the way. Every year we’ve heard talk of a push within certain political factions for casino gaming to be legalized yet whenever we think it is getting closer to reality it slips away again. Tellingly, the best opportunity Japan’s parliament has ever had to pass such a bill came only last year. Buoyed by the approaching 2020 summer Olympics in Tokyo and the prospect of opening Japan’s first Integrated Resorts in time to take advantage of the influx of tourists, lawmakers put together a bill to be presented to parliament last November. Instead, parliament “ran out of time” and the opportunity was lost.

The irony of all of this is that Japan is missing the boat. Already we’re seeing a number of Asian gaming destinations declare significant boosts in profit as a result of Macau’s decline and with China’s central government showing no signs of easing its anti-corruption crackdown the trend will only become more apparent. But while the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam and Cambodia among others enjoy the benefits, Japan continues to waste time.

Which is not to say it will never happen. We’ll just need to see it to believe it.