IR

Akira Amari, the head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s Research Commission on the Tax System, has clarified that the proposed tax on the winnings of overseas gamblers at Japan’s future IRs will not be imposed.

If an IR is one day built in Tomakomai city, it will certainly be due to the dogged persistence of its municipal government, which has put forward yet another set of proposals to sweeten the pot and to encourage Hokkaido Governor Naomichi Suzuki to change his mind and authorize an IR licensing bid.

Joji Kokuryo, managing partner of Bay City Ventures, speaks with Michael Penn, the executive editor of AGB Nippon, about the candidate locations to host an IR in Japan.

If the IR policy delays have created a threat to Yokohama’s plans that are primarily political, the deepest concerns for Osaka arguably relate to its effect on transportation infrastructure to the man-made island of Yumeshima.

Barring some truly dramatic event, it is already clear Yokohama faces a year of battle over IR development in 2021, pushing other public issues to the margins. Yokohama Mayor Fumiko Hayashi’s mayoral term comes to an end in August 2021.

While the number of contenders willing to host an integrated resort has dropped dramatically since January, four runners - Yokohama, Osaka, Wakayama, and Nagasaki are continuing their campaign win a spot in Japan's integrated resort future. 

The Nishinippon Shinbun, the leading regional newspaper of the Japanese island of Kyushu, editorialized on Monday against the IR development plan in Nagasaki that is supported by the region’s governors.