In Japan, more information concerning the specific rules and guidelines that could govern the nation’s coming integrated casino resorts has reportedly been revealed following last week’s meeting between an expert panel and government officials from the Office of Integrated Resort Regime Promotion. According to a report from Asia Gaming Brief, the Office of Integrated Resort Regime Promotion has been tasked with formulating concrete regulations ahead of passing on these proposals to lawmakers for consideration later in the year. It heard from the eight-member panel led by Hitotsubashi University professor Hirotaka Yamauchi at prime minister’s Shinzo Abe’s official residence on Tuesday and accepted a number of recommendations including one that would ban Japanese players from utilizing credit cards in order to purchase chips.
Asia Gaming Brief reported that additional proposals that were agreed to included a ban on junket operators, the establishment of a national regulator and a requirement that casinos implement an extensive range of security measures such as the positioning of entrance cameras. The meeting additionally resulted in the pair agreeing that slots along with roulette and a number of card games such as poker should be legalized with sports betting and online gaming banned while establishments should be forbidden from offering ATM machines on or near their gaming floors.
However, the biggest revelation perhaps concerns the actual size of the gaming floors to be allowed within the coming one-per-city integrated casino resorts with Asia Gaming Brief citing local sources in reporting that the panel and government body agreed in principle that this should be restricted to 3% of the total area of any development. Although it alleged that the bodies failed to agree a precise limit last week, it is thought that no casino in the country is to be permitted to open a gaming floor larger than 161,458 sq ft. But, Asia Gaming Brief reported that the Office of Integrated Resort Regime Promotion is facing a slippery slope as it does not want to set the proportional ceiling at too low a percentage as this may impede potential operators from considering developments for smaller markets. This is because possible projects on the islands of Hokkaido or Kyushu would not require the extensive business and entertainment facilities that would surround developments in major cities such as Yokohama or Osaka.
Finally, Asia Gaming Brief reported that the Office of Integrated Resort Regime Promotion’s next consultation meeting is set to take place nearer the end of the month and deal with anti-money laundering policies and strategies to prevent problem gambling while Japanese lawmakers could vote on definitive casino legalization legislation as soon as the autumn.
