Osaka governor sees resort opening in second half of 2020s after Covid-19 delays
MGM Resorts International formally proposed building a US$9 billion casino resort in Osaka, reinvigorating its push to open Japan’s first casino gambling facility after pandemic-related delays.
Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura said that Osaka has received a proposal from MGM and Japanese financial-services company Orix Corp. to invest ¥1 trillion, equivalent to about US$9 billion, to build a casino resort. They are the only group pursuing such a project in Osaka.
Japan’s casino legislation states that casinos must be part of an integrated resort and has limited installation of casino in the country to just three, and Osaka has one of the better chances of being one of the prefectures best places now, vying for a casino with the MGM Resorts proposal.
Global casino operators have been looking for opportunities since Japan legalized casinos in 2018, but the process has moved slowly, and some companies have dropped their bids.
Osaka, the core of Japan’s second most-populous region after the Tokyo area, has been among the most active in pushing casino plans. The city has offered Yumeshima, or “dream island,” a man-made patch in Osaka Bay, for a casino-centred resort.
