Japan certifies Osaka Yumeshima IR District Development Plan

Japan's Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism certified the Osaka Yumeshima IR District Development Plan on 14 April 2023, the first such certification in the country¹. The ministry said the decision was made under Article 9, Paragraph 11 of the Act on Development of Specified Integrated Resort Districts, after consent from the heads of relevant administrative agencies and an opinion from the IR Promotion Headquarters, chaired by the Prime Minister¹. Conditions were attached and published separately¹.

The applicants were Osaka Prefecture, whose governor is Hirofumi Yoshimura, and Osaka IR Corporation, represented by Edward Bowers and Toyonori Takahashi¹. The plan covers an artificial island in Osaka's Konohana ward, with opening targeted for autumn to winter 2029³. The operator's core shareholders are the Japanese arm of US casino company MGM Resorts International and Orix².

The ministry said an external expert review committee examined the plan from many angles and reached a result of "a plan that can be certified"¹. It said:

Sankei reported that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told the IR Promotion Headquarters meeting that Osaka's IR "will contribute to the nation's growth" and that he asked for environment-building including addiction prevention measures². Land minister Tetsuo Saito said the plan received a "can be certified" evaluation after about a year of sufficient and careful review by the expert committee².

Nagasaki Prefecture's plan, on the site of the Huis Ten Bosch resort in Sasebo, was left under continued review by the national expert committee, with Sankei reporting that opacity in funding was pointed out². Saito declined to give the reason for continuing the review, saying he would withhold an answer because it was under examination².

What it means for players

The certification does not open a casino. Under the IR Implementation Law, casino services may be provided only within IR areas implemented under a plan authorized by the minister, and a casino business needs a license from the Japan Casino Regulatory Commission⁴. The commission is the key regulatory authority⁴. Only one IR area, Osaka, has been approved by the minister⁴.

Casino gambling by licensed operators inside an approved land-based IR is legalized under the IR Laws; online gaming remains prohibited under the Penal Code and was not legalized by those laws⁴. A person who commits "simple gambling" faces a fine of not more than JPY 500,000 or a petty fine; "habitual gambling" carries imprisonment of not more than three years; and running a gambling place or organizing habitual gamblers for profit carries imprisonment of not less than three months but not more than five years⁴. A user may commit a gambling crime even when using an online casino legitimately operated outside Japan⁴.

Under the commission's rules, permitted games include baccarat, blackjack, poker, roulette, sic bo, craps, Casino War, money wheel, pai gow and electronic-table games⁴. The maximum floor area of a casino facility is 3 percent of the total floor area of the IR, and only one casino facility may operate in a single IR area⁶. The maximum number of approved IR areas is initially three, with a review seven years after the initial approvals that may or may not raise the number to ten⁴.

For background on how Japanese gambling rules work, see Can I Gamble in Japan? and Casinos and Integrated Resorts in Asia. Racing and public betting remain separate: Betting on Horse Racing in Japan, Betting on Boat Racing (Kyotei) in Japan and Betting on Keirin in Japan.

What happens next

Sankei reported that formal opening requires an agreement with the operator on specific operating methods, examination by the government's Casino Regulatory Commission, and the granting of a casino business license². The commission issued its Criteria of Examination for Granting Casino Business Licences on 22 July 2022⁴. A casino business license lasts three years and must be renewed⁶. The minister's authorization of the IR implementation plan lasts initially ten years and is renewed every five years thereafter⁶.