Due to the growing popularity of casinos -in which Macau did better than Las Vegas- and the upcoming opening of casinos in Singapore, Japan intends to legalize casinos starting next year – 2008.

Members of the Liberal Democrat Party, which now governs Japan, have started an initiative to authorize the casino industry to operate in Japan. They are waiting for the law to be passed at the end of the next ordinary session, which will take place in June 2008.

The main goal is to boost tourism using casinos as an attraction. This would strengthen economy and increase taxes revenues. They want 20 million foreigners to visit the country every year. At the same time, Japanese people will be charged an entrance fee, which will avoid their overuse of gaming facilities.

If Japan authorizes the installing of casinos on its territories, this will give lots of chances for foreigner casino industries, since only a few Japanese companies have the ‘know how’ required to operate in the casino business.