IR seeker Nagasaki sees governor narrowly lose election

February 21, 2022 Japan Events & Announcements

Casino-seeking Nagasaki prefecture in Japan will have a new governor, after the incumbent, septuagenarian Hodo Nakamura (pictured), was narrowly voted out of office on Sunday.

His replacement, Kengo Oishi, is said to be a supporter of the local policy to get a casino complex, or integrated resort (IR), in Nagasaki,
but his three-term predecessor initiated the process.

The governor-elect Mr Oishi, aged 39, a former official of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, won by only 541 votes relative to Mr Nakamura’s support, out a total 525,083 valid votes cast, according to GGRAsia’s Japan correspondent.

Voter turnout was just under 48 percent, according to local media reports.

The locally-dominant Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was split, in terms of backing for those two main candidates.

Members of the prefectural assembly – a body where the LDP holds a majority – have several times expressed concern about the financial capability of Nagasaki’s preferred operating partner for an IR – Casinos Austria International Japan Inc – to deliver such a scheme. It has been described as a JPY350-billion (US$3.04-billion) project.

April 28 is the closing date for local governments to make a submission to the national authorities for the right to host an IR. Currently, Wakayama and Osaka are also likely to submit a respective application. Up to three resorts will be allowed in Japan, under the current framework for liberalisation.