August 15, 2019
Akahata on August 15 reported that the Tokyo metropolitan government conducted research on anticipated economic effects of integrated resort (IR) facilities centering on casinos although nothing has been decided yet.
The metropolitan government’s Port and Harbor Bureau outsourced the research to a major consulting firm, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu LLC (DTTL), and received a final report in March this year. Akahata obtained the report through information disclosure requests.
The report assessed the potential economic effects of an IR project under the assumption that world-class facilities for meetings, conferences, and exhibitions in addition to casinos and luxurious hotels would operate in a particular area in Tokyo. The report estimates that the IR would attract 30 million visitors and earn 400 billion yen in sales annually, which in turn would create a 900-billion-yen spinoff effect and add 80 billion yen to the Tokyo government’s tax revenues.
However, the DTTL report does not mention the fact that the metropolitan government will need to spend a huge amount of taxpayers’ money to construct exhibition/conference halls.
As measures to prevent casino-related problems, such as gambling addiction and juvenile delinquency, the consulting firm cited regulations on advertisement and on maximum allowable visits, but these are all shown in materials compiled by the national government’s council on the promotion of IR projects. The research contractor did not conduct hearings with opponents of casino projects, such as concerned citizens, civil groups working on youth issues, and public interest lawyers.
The Tokyo government paid Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu 7.77 million yen for research expenses which translates into 240,000 yen per page. However, many of the photos and graphic charts in the DTTL report were taken from materials published by the national government’s council for IR promotion and related organizations.
Past related articles:
> Casino implementation law forcibly enacted [July 21, 2018]
> US casino lobby boasts it educated Japanese lawmakers to work for casino legalization [July 17, 2018]
The metropolitan government’s Port and Harbor Bureau outsourced the research to a major consulting firm, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu LLC (DTTL), and received a final report in March this year. Akahata obtained the report through information disclosure requests.
The report assessed the potential economic effects of an IR project under the assumption that world-class facilities for meetings, conferences, and exhibitions in addition to casinos and luxurious hotels would operate in a particular area in Tokyo. The report estimates that the IR would attract 30 million visitors and earn 400 billion yen in sales annually, which in turn would create a 900-billion-yen spinoff effect and add 80 billion yen to the Tokyo government’s tax revenues.
However, the DTTL report does not mention the fact that the metropolitan government will need to spend a huge amount of taxpayers’ money to construct exhibition/conference halls.
As measures to prevent casino-related problems, such as gambling addiction and juvenile delinquency, the consulting firm cited regulations on advertisement and on maximum allowable visits, but these are all shown in materials compiled by the national government’s council on the promotion of IR projects. The research contractor did not conduct hearings with opponents of casino projects, such as concerned citizens, civil groups working on youth issues, and public interest lawyers.
The Tokyo government paid Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu 7.77 million yen for research expenses which translates into 240,000 yen per page. However, many of the photos and graphic charts in the DTTL report were taken from materials published by the national government’s council for IR promotion and related organizations.
Past related articles:
> Casino implementation law forcibly enacted [July 21, 2018]
> US casino lobby boasts it educated Japanese lawmakers to work for casino legalization [July 17, 2018]
