Japan’s casinos unlikely to draw Chinese players: experts

Optimism of casino operators in the Japanese market is at an all-time high after the state parliament has passed a long-awaited law to legalize casinos on Thursday.

In fact, international gaming firms such as Wynn Resorts, MGM Resorts and Caesars have expressed an interest in running businesses in Japan as they try to find new markets amid the on-going corruption crackdown in China, including the world’s premier gaming hub Macau.

But experts warned operators to temper their optimism as they raised their eyebrows on the ability of Japan’s casino to attract many Chinese mainland tourists.

While he describes the move of Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to support the legalization of casino to stimulate the country’s ailing economy as “unprecedented,” Gao Hong, deputy director with the Institute of Japanese Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, casted doubt whether these casinos will attract too many Chinese mainland tourists.