American casino operator Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment has reportedly joined with Oshidori International Holdings Limited in hopes of winning the right to build and run a gambling-friendly resort in Japan.

According to a report from Inside Asian Gaming, the Connecticut-based firm cooperated with its new colleague’s Oshidori International Development Godogaisha concern to participate in the recent request for proposal (RFP) stage of the plan to bring a Las Vegas-style development to Nagasaki Prefecture.

Pronounced plan:

Although most gambling is currently illegal in Japan, the coalition government of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe passed legislation in July of 2018 that will involve the nation of some 126 million inhabitants licensing a trio of integrated casino resorts featuring hotels, exhibition facilities and extensive gaming floors. The source detailed that Nagasaki Prefecture wants its envisioned facility to sit on a 74-acre site adjacent to the Huis Ten Bosch theme park in an effort to help boost the local economy through increased levels of tourism.

Rival runners:

However, Inside Asian Gaming explained that candidate communities are first being obliged to select a foreign firm to run any such future venue before submitting their completed license applications to a panel of federal selectors in advance of an April of 2022 deadline. Nagasaki Prefecture is home to approximately 1.3 people and reportedly launched the three-week RFP stage of its casino plan on January 7 and subsequently received definitive bids from seven entities including the tender being fronted by Oshidori International Development Godogaisha.

Experienced entity:

Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment is the casino-operating arm of the United States’ federally-recognized Mohegan Tribe and already responsible for a large portfolio of gambling-friendly properties encompassing its flagship Mohegan Sun facility in eastern Connecticut. The entity is furthermore hoping to premiere giant Inspire-branded developments in Greece and South Korea before the end of the decade and is now reportedly keen to enter 2022 as Nagasaki Prefecture’s operating partner of choice.

High hopes:

Mario Kontomerkos serves as the Chief Executive Officer for Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment and he used an official Wednesday press release to pronounce that his firm had originally been aiming its Japanese interest towards the northern island of Hokkaido. But he declared that the operator was subsequently forced to abandon this locale and now wants to develop ‘a world-class integrated resort’ for Nagasaki Prefecture that will allow the jurisdiction to become ‘a premium travel destination and a premier residential choice.’

Read a statement from Kontomerkos…

“We are honored to work with Oshidori International Development Godogaisha and leverage its team’s unparalleled experience on this integrated casino resort license bid in one of the fastest growing markets in the world. Japan offers important development opportunities that will benefit the Kyushu economy. Our growth strategy took into consideration the significant cross-marketing opportunity between Project Inspire in South Korea and Kyushu, Japan. As operators of ten properties globally including one of the largest integrated resorts in the western hemisphere, we are eager to bring our expertise to this venture.”