Reuters – Philippine leisure and gaming firm Bloomberry Resorts Corp is in talks with a potential Japanese partner for what could be the company’s maiden overseas venture, its chief executive officer said on Thursday. The talks are in preparation for bidding for a gaming license if and when a Japanese gambling law is passed, Enrique Razon, Bloomberry CEO and the Philippines’ fourth-richest man, said at a stockholders meeting. He did not name the Japanese firm. “We’re now working on Japan,” Razon said. “If the integrated resort law passes in Japan this year, we will contend for a license.” Japan is…

Reuters – Japan’s parliament will likely start discussing next week a bill to legalise casino gambling although proponents may hold off voting until the autumn in a strategic move to prevent opponents from killing it, a key supporter of the bill said on Tuesday. Takeshi Iwaya, a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and a leading casino proponent, said he had some success in recent weeks in garnering support for the bill from a coalition partner and the main opposition party. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to two integrated resorts in Singapore last week, where he said casinos…

Reuters – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to tour Singapore’s two lavish casino resorts on Friday as his home country toys with the idea of liberalizing casino gambling to boost tourism and attract investment. Japan, home to 128 million people and the world’s third largest economy, is widely seen as a prize market for casino operators due to its affluent population and close proximity to wealthy Asian gamblers in the region. Brokerage CLSA estimates Japan could be the world’s third biggest gambling market after Macau and the United States, raking in revenues of at least $40 billion annually…

Daily Finance – Japanese gaming is getting everyone excited. With a summer vote pending to legalize casino building in the country, casino CEOs are already fighting over bids and locations. Neil Bluhm, the Chicago man who has built a real estate empire with casinos around the U.S. and Canada, is preparing to place his bid on the southern city of Osaka. Las Vegas Sands CEO and gaming entrepreneur Sheldon Adelson is putting his bet, a very large bet, on the capital city of Tokyo. Other companies, such as Wynn Resorts and Melco Crown are preparing their bets as well. So…

Reuters – Japanese gaming company Konami Corp said it was planning to invest in casinos in anticipation of legislation to legalise gambling and help create an entertainment and resort market some estimate to be worth over $40 billion. Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers are trying to pass legislation allowing the development of casino resorts in Japan, although time is running out for a bill to be approved in the current parliamentary session ending next month. Konami said it would set up a subsidiary, once a casino bill is passed, through which it would take a minority stake in casinos in partnership…

Reuters – The western Japanese city of Osaka could have a casino resort up and running by 2019, in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, if a bill to legalize casinos is approved by parliament this year, executives of MGM Resorts International (MGM.N) said on Saturday. “If the first bill passes in the fall of this year, you could have something up and ready to go in Osaka by the end of 2019,” Ed Bowers, MGM’s senior vice president for global gaming development, said in an interview for the Reuters Japan Summit. Lawmakers have said they would like to see…