Jul 21 (NHK) - Japan's Diet enacted a bill into law on integrated resorts, which include casinos, despite persistent objections from opposition parties.
The Upper House passed the Integrated Resort Facilities legislation in the plenary session on Friday, endorsing the final Diet approval.
The enactment came after a no-confidence motion against the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was voted down in the Lower House plenary session earlier in the day.
Opposition parties submitted the motion in a bid to prevent the enactment of the bill which cleared the lower chamber last month.
In the debate over the IR bill, the main ruling Liberal Democratic Party pledged to implement a set of measures to address concerns over the opening of casinos in the country.
The LDP insisted that the legislation will promote tourism and revitalize regional economies.
The Democratic Party for the People, which is the largest opposition force in the upper chamber, criticized the ruling camp for prioritizing what it called the casino bill over responses to the recent torrential rain disaster.
The opposition party expressed strong objection to the bill which it said could increase gambling addiction in Japan.
The IR bill was approved with support from the majority parties, which include the LDP, Komeito, Nippon Ishin or Japan Innovation Party, and the Party of Hope.
Under the new law, 3 integrated resort locations will be allowed across Japan for the time being. The resort areas are to be reviewed 7 years after the designations are first approved.
The law requires operators of the IR facilities to pay 30 percent of casino revenues to the state coffer.
As part of measures to reduce risk of addiction, Japanese people visiting a casino will be charged an admission fee of 6,000 yen or about 55 dollars. They will only be allowed to visit up to 3 times a week, and up to 10 times over the course of 4 weeks.
Operators that illegally obtain business permits for casinos in the resort area will be penalized.
Source: ANNnewsCH
