The Japanese liberalisation is once again delayed

The bill to lift the ban on land-based casinos in Japan is unlikely to pass during the current parliamentary session that is ending next Sunday, on November 30th.
In fact, the partner of the government, the Komeito party, is concerned about the adverse effects that gambling may have on society.
The party seems determined to drag things out.
The text therefore may not be adopted by the end of the year, by either the upper house or the lower house of parliament.
The measure will likely be delayed until January 2015, especially since on Monday, October 20, two Japanese ministers had resigned, which should further complicate the discussion of the government policy.

The support of Komeito

The Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe supports the liberalisation of land-based casinos in the archipelago since he visited gambling establishments in Singapore.
Nevertheless, the party in power does not have enough weight in the parliament to pass the bill.
He therefore needs the support of the Komeito party which does not seem quite ready to give it to him.
In fact, the party is still concerned about the harmful effects on society that gambling may have.
Everything is now going as expected.
The adoption of the law for brick and mortar casinos could become quite difficult.

For the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020

The proposed measure has already been postponed once.
The measure may yet again be postponed to the next session of the parliament that is going to be held in early 2015.
This is going to be a particularly important session which is dominated by important laws such as the national budget, for example.
This could overshadow the law concerning the legalisation of land-based casinos in the archipelago to attract investors who are interested in setting up gambling complexes in time for the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020.
Fortunately, experts believe that Japan could emerge as the second largest casino market in the world, behind the market of Macau.
It is therefore unlikely that the operators will not interested in the liberalisation anymore if it is no longer possible to build casinos in time for the Olympics.