In Japan, yesterday reportedly saw the pro-casino incumbent Governor for Wakayama Prefecture, Yoshinobu Nisaka (pictured), win over 80% of the vote in order to secure a fourth consecutive four-year term in office.

Backing regional casino:

According to a report from GGRAsia, Nisaka recently asserted that his region should be selected to host one of the nation’s three coming integrated casino resorts despite some resistance from the mayor for Wakayama City, Masahiro Obana. This purportedly prefaced July’s federal ratification of the Integrated Resort Implementation Bill, which is to require local authorities to partner with foreign operators in order to bid for one of the trio of available licenses.

Preferred location:

GGRAsia reported that 68-year-old Nisaka is supporting an around $2.6 billion plan that would see a man-made island in Wakaura Bay host the envisioned integrated casino resort. Alongside Western-style gambling, the 98.8-acre Wakayama Marina City development, which would lie about around 25 miles from Kansai International Airport, would also feature a 538,200 sq ft exhibition center as well as hotels offering approximately 2,500 rooms.

To highlight ‘the positive sides’:

After Sunday’s ballot saw him garner some 246,303 of the over 307,000 available votes to soundly defeat sole opponent Masayoshi Hatanaka, Nisaka declared that he will now endeavor to explain ‘the positive sides’ to hosting one of the coming integrated casino resorts while describing the ‘negative effects’ as largely preventable.

Nisaka secured his victory with help from members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its Komeito coalition partner. He purportedly expressed his belief throughout the campaign that bringing an integrated casino resort to Wakayama Prefecture will help to revitalize the local economy and increase tourism.

Healthy competition:

However, Wakayama Prefecture is reportedly facing stiff competition for one of the coming casino licenses from the giant cities Osaka, Nagasaki and Yokohama as well as the Tokyo suburb of Chiba City and the more rural Hokkaido Prefecture.