Komeito caps casino licenses at 3

April 3 , 2018

“IR” legislation working teams from the LDP and Komeito met on Apr. 2“IR” legislation working teams from the LDP and Komeito met on Apr. 2

On April 2, respective teams of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito developing legislation to legalize “integrated resorts” (IR) that operate casinos held a joint meeting to negotiate the number of Japanese cities that will be granted casino licenses. This was a major point of contention between the two parties in Japan’s coalition government in the current IR “implementation bill” that will soon be submitted to the Diet. They agreed to set the upper limit to three.

Komeito has consistently urged for a minimal number of casinos. The teams’ decision is also in line with Diet proceedings on the issue, where suggestions were made to set the cap at two or three locales.

It was also decided that the upper limit will be subject to revision only after seven years from the time the licenses are granted, in order to be able to adequately assess the overall impact of the enterprise.