The Japanese government yesterday said it has approved a controversial plan to build the country’s first legal casino in Osaka, hoping to draw tourists after years of wrangling.
The local governments of Osaka and Nagasaki in western Japan have long sought approval to build an integrated resort (IR) including casinos, convention centers, hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues.
The Osaka plan, which aims to open the casino by 2029, was approved after “sufficient examination from various perspectives,” Japanese Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Tetsuo Saito said.
Photo: AFP
“We expect the IR will become a tourism base that will disseminate the charm of Japan,” he said.
Japan was long the only developed nation that banned casinos, but it in 2016 passed legislation paving the way to make the industry legal.
In 2018, the Japanese legislature enacted a law allowing the construction of integrated resorts.
Critics warn that approving casinos could worsen the country’s already significant gambling problem.
A 2021 government survey found that about 2.2 percent of the population, or 2.8 million people, are affected by gambling addiction.
Many are hooked on pinball-like pachinko slot machines, which together annually generate about ￥14.6 trillion (US$1.1 trillion) in revenue.
About 7,600 pachinko parlors dot the nation, many readily accessible near train stations, using legal loopholes to let winners exchange tokens for cash.
The country also has a multi-trillion-yen market for government-controlled races of horses, motorcycles, boats and bicycles, along with soccer betting and a lottery.
The government says any integrated resort seeking approval would have to submit their plans to prevent gambling addiction.
There is a cap on the number of visits to a facility by Japanese, and family members can request a relative be banned from entering a casino, Saito said.
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
A Vietnamese migrant worker yesterday won NT$12 million (US$379,627) on a Lunar New Year scratch card in Kaohsiung as part of Taiwan Lottery Co’s (台灣彩券) “NT$12 Million Grand Fortune” (1200萬大吉利) game. The man was the first top-prize winner of the new game launched on Jan. 6 to mark the Lunar New Year. Three Vietnamese migrant workers visited a Taiwan Lottery shop on Xinyue Street in Kaohsiung’s Gangshan District (崗山), a store representative said. The player bought multiple tickets and, after winning nothing, held the final lottery ticket in one hand and rubbed the store’s statue of the Maitreya Buddha’s belly with the other,
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
‘COMMITTED TO DETERRENCE’: Washington would stand by its allies, but it can only help as much as countries help themselves, Raymond Greene said The US is committed to deterrence in the first island chain, but it should not bear the burden alone, as “freedom is not free,” American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said in a speech at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research’s “Strengthening Resilience: Defense as the Engine of Development” seminar in Taipei yesterday. In the speech, titled “Investing Together and a Secure and Prosperous Future,” Greene highlighted the contributions of US President Donald Trump’s administration to Taiwan’s defense efforts, including the establishment of supply chains for drones and autonomous systems, offers of security assistance and the expansion of
RSS