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Read Full BioA senior Japanese business leader has claimed that plans to build Japan’s first integrated casino resort in Osaka will transform the region into a leading entertainment destination.
The comments came from Yasuji Nagai, the Vice President of the construction giant Obayashi Corporation, the Japanese newspaper Hokkoku Shimbun reported. Nagai is also the head of the Kansai Economic Association. The latter is a group of companies based in the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, and Shiga.
The business leader stated that the success of the integrated resort would be “important for tourism.” He said: “Osaka’s mission is to create a major entertainment hub.”
Nagai was speaking at a press conference held in Osaka on November 28. He said that the tourism industry would help spark economic growth in the wake of the Osaka-Kansai Expo.
Integrated Casino Resort Expected to Open in 2030
The six-month-long tech expo wrapped up in October this year. Its organizers claimed some 28 million visitors were in attendance.
Flying cars and other innovations may have brought IT-curious visitors to the expo this year. However, business leaders are looking to casino patrons and other tourists for future revenue growth.
Nagai also spoke about proposed development plans for the so-called Yumeshima Phase 2 area. The area is now a disused events facility. It sits adjacent to the casino-resort development site.
“It would be good to build a variety of facilities here that will have a synergistic effect [on the integrated resort’s launch],” he told media representatives.
The resort, tentatively named the MGM Osaka, is scheduled to open in the fall of 2030 on the artificial island of Yumeshima, in the city’s Konohana Ward.
Its chief financial backers are the Orix Corporation and MGM Resorts Japan. Orix is one of Japan’s largest financial services providers.
The resort will comprise three hotels, a 3,500-seat theater, a convention center, shopping malls, and restaurants, with the casino located at its core.
Work on the site officially began in April 2025, but has gathered pace since the expo concluded.
Officials have claimed that the integrated resort will help boost tourism and economic growth in Osaka. But some critics have hit out at the plan, claiming it runs counter to Japan’s efforts to eliminate online gambling and youth betting addiction.
The resort’s advocates will hope that by the time the resort is ready to open its doors, relations between Tokyo and Beijing will have settled.
A recent political dispute between Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and top Chinese diplomats has led Beijing to ban Chinese group tours to Japanese destinations. Analysts believe this will benefit South Korean casinos, which cater primarily to Chinese tourists.
