First, the good news: The casino-regulation bill over which Japan‘s Liberal Democratic Party has slaved, may make it into the Diet by Friday, giving the Nipponese parliament just under two months to 
consider it. (The Diet adjourns on June 20.) Now, the bad news: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is in a world of hurt, with plummeting job-approval ratings and an expectation that he could resign when the Diet wraps up business. Abe and wife Akie are accused of mixing private business with public duties, using Abe’s position of financial gain. The Finance Ministry’s Junichi Fukuda is already out, having been caught making “crude sexual remarks” on tape. To Americans this must all sound very familiar. Moreover, Abe dare not use one of his favorite ploys — a snap election — as the outcome would probably not augur well for LDP or casinos.
The compromise casino bill restricts gambling to a puny 3% of megaresort square footage. In addition to a $56/day admission fee for Japanese nationals (cheaper than joining the Church of Scientology), it specifies three initial megaresorts, with possible expansion to additional 
cities seven years down the road. At this point, it appears to be a fait accompli that Yokohama, Osaka and Tokyo will get the megaresorts, partly because the size restriction on gambling capacity discourages heavy investment in secondary or tertiary markets. if CalvinAyre.com columnist Rafi Farber is to be believed, it will be at least 2026 before a casino opens in the Land of the Rising Sun. He adds, “It will likely take longer because there is no economy more bloated with dead weight in the world than Japan.” Makes you feel all confident about those promised $10 billion investments, doesn’t it?
* Confirming our initial impression, MGM Resorts International would be forbidden from operating two casinos in Massachusetts. However, this does not invalidate our theory that MGM Growth Properties could buy the real estate and lease it to a third party — in which case Mohegan Sun 
is firmly back in the running. The Boston Globe‘s Adrian Walker, however, thinks it’s all a clever head-fake by Wynn Resorts CEO Matt Maddox: “More likely, Wynn officials are using the threat of sale to throw the process into chaos and prod the [Massachusetts] Gaming Commission into deciding sooner rather than later whether Wynn Resorts gets to keep its casino … The commission is in an unenviable position. If Wynn keeps its license and proceeds as scheduled, the panel will be accused of rank hypocrisy, or talking a good game on ethics but backing down when it counted. But if Wynn is stripped of its license, the company is left with half a casino, years of wasted time, and a ton of broken promises to Everett, which is counting on the casino as the key to its long-overdue revitalization.”
Union Gaming analyst John DeCree speculates that — in a pretty audacious flip — MGM could sell MGM Springfield in return for relieving Wynn (and the MGC) of the 
Everett problem. He rules out Genting Group, Las Vegas Sands and Caesars Entertainment — already rejected forcefully by the MGC — as contenders for the Boston market. But how does MGM get out of its host agreement with Springfield? The latter has already deep-sixed one potential buyer, Penn National Gaming, while other possibilities could include suddenly acquisitive Boyd Gaming, Foxwoods Resort Casino and Hard Rock International … although, with Hard Rock Atlantic City coming down the track, does the Seminole Tribe want to lumber itself with another megaresort at this point, even if it comes ready-built?
* In a praiseworthy development, the American Gaming Association has formed the Responsible Gaming Collective. According to the AGA, the Collective will “identify the programs and policies that best address responsible gaming and the prevention of problem gambling, and 
hold government accountable for supporting proven, effective solutions.” (Nevada, which lags the nation badly, should be first on the RGC’s accountability list.) There’s a six-point set of objectives — Sample: “Develop a set of recommendations and industry best practices” — although no deadline has been set. Said AGA President Geoff Freeman, “It’s time to comprehensively review existing responsible gaming policies and regulations. We must drive a new discussion around proven, effective programs and ensure that governments are appropriately allocating resources.” There’s never a bad time to discuss problem gambling, let alone
Japan is presently projected to go from 120 million to 19 million people in only twenty years. The country has very low unemployment and a high amount of nihilism that comes when a small pool of 20-54 year olds are to burden the costs of an enormous elderly population.
Unless the country seeks a huge amount of immigration, the kind of which it hesitates to take on because it would rather ride it’s national identity into another “lost decade”, I don’t see the point of casinos helping much of anyone. In the short term, Abe can’t leave fast enough.