Economist – Kabukicho, Japan’s biggest fleshpot, swarms over a crowded one-kilometre block of Tokyo. It is a gaudy patchwork of clubs, massage parlours and seedy hotels, a short walk from what is probably the world’s busiest train station. Hoodlums from Yakuza crime gangs tout illicit thrills from a well-thumbed menu of sex, drugs and gambling.
Takeshi Iwaya, a politician, wants to pull gambling out of the seedy company it keeps in Kabukicho and put it into giant family-friendly casinos. He is lobbying for Japan to lift its ban on casinos. A share of Macau’s eye-watering gambling revenues is the goal. Singapore, home to a couple of new upmarket casino resorts, is the model. Three years ago, the island state allowed Marina Bay Sands, run by Sheldon Adelson’s Sands empire, and Resorts World Sentosa, run by Malaysia’s Genting group, to open. They earned $5.9 billion last year, nearly as much as all of the casinos on the Las Vegas strip.
Before it can reach such lofty heights, however, Japan must legalise casinos. It has been debating doing so for years, but supporters say they have finally lined up all the ducks. A cross-party group of 140 politicians supports the move, including the prime minister, Shinzo Abe, says Mr Iwaya. Liberalising gambling would fit well with Mr Abe’s radical reforms to boost Japan’s sluggish growth. Japan’s police have dropped their long-standing opposition, and parliament is expected to debate a legalisation bill soon. “The time is right,” says Mr Iwaya.
Legalisation still has its opponents. Keiko Itokazu, another parliamentarian, worries that the Yakuza gangs have a record of muscling in on legal businesses, from property to banking. Mr Iwaya responds that there are already lots of illegal casinos in Japan; bringing the business out into the open can only make things better.
