Pro-casino MPs in Japan may agree on entry restrictions

Tokyo

SUPPORTERS of changes in the law to allow gaming casinos to open in Japan appear ready to take a gamble themselves by agreeing to demands that Japanese nationals be barred from entering such establishments - in the hope that any ban agreed now can be softened before the dozen or so planned casinos actually open.

Reuters reported on Thursday that pro-casino members of Japan's Parliament have agreed to consider setting limits on Japanese nationals' entry to casinos, bowing to pressure from opponents who threatened to block a legalisation bill unless it addresses issues such as gambling addiction.

But Jay Defibaugh, senior analyst at CLSA Securities in Tokyo, told The Business Times that this appears to be a strategy designed to soften more "vehement" political opposition to gambling in Japan and to allow a first- stage Bi…