Japan regional casino action heats up

Nagasaki declared last week that it will seek an integrated resort license to build a property that includes a casino, and US tribal operator Mohegan opened an office in Hokkaido, another mooted IR site beyond Japan’s largest cities. However, according to some observers, Wakayama, just over an hour from Osaka, could be Japan’s leading regional contender due to its proximity to country’s second largest population hub, government enthusiasm and a site that’s ready for development.

Totally globalized native New Yorker and former broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is a blogger for Forbes, editor at large for Inside Asian Gaming and author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about television news, love, betrayal, high finance, and cheap lingerie. See his bio, online archive and more at www.muhammadcohen.com; follow him on Facebook and Twitter @MuhammadCohen.