Work starts on casino-based integrated resort in Osaka Bay
The planned site of an integrated resort (IR) facility is near the Osaka Kansai Expo venue at top left. (Toshiyuki Hayashi)
OSAKA—Construction of Japan's first integrated resort (IR) facility featuring a casino, an international convention center and hotels started on Yumeshima, a man-made island in Osaka Bay, on April 24.
The IR on the 49-hectare site is scheduled to open around 2030.
Osaka IR, a consortium that includes the Japanese subsidiary of U.S. casino operator MGM Resorts International, Orix Corp. and other investors, is building the resort next to the north side of the Osaka Kansai Expo venue.
The initial investment will be about 1.27 trillion yen ($8.89 billion).
The planned casino will feature around 470 tables for poker and baccarat, as well as about 6,400 electronic tables for slots and other games.
The international convention center will have conference rooms that can accommodate more than 6,000 people. The three hotels will offer a total of around 2,500 rooms.
Commercial facilities and a bus terminal will also be built at the site.
Ed Bowers, the CEO of MGM Resorts Japan who is also the representative director of Osaka IR, attended the groundbreaking ceremony on April 24.
The casino is expected to attract up to 20 million visitors a year and generate around 520 billion yen in sales.
Casino operations came into the spotlight in Japan in 1999, when then Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara advocated bringing casinos to the Daiba district of the capital.
Casinos were discussed under the second Abe administration as a main feature of its economic policy, and the IR Implementation Law was enacted in July 2018.
Nagasaki, Wakayama, Yokohama and other areas have also made moves to invite IRs, but the central government approved only the development plan of Osaka Prefecture and Osaka city in April 2023.
Based on the law, a Casino Management Committee was established in January 2020 as an external bureau of the Cabinet Office to examine measures against gambling addiction, money laundering and involvement of organized crime.
However, concerns have not disappeared.
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