Japan casinos still can’t get to first base

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party has taken Japan’s integrated resorts bill off the table for the current Diet session. Conditions seem right for casino legalization in Japan, except crucial national politics.

Totally globalized native New Yorker and former broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is a blogger for Forbes, editor at large for Inside Asian Gaming and author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about television news, love, betrayal, high finance, and cheap lingerie. See his bio, online archive and more at www.muhammadcohen.com; follow him on Facebook and Twitter @MuhammadCohen.

Japan vote could boost casino hopes

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to legalize casinos for Japan as part of his economic revival plan known as Abenomics. In Sunday’s vote, his Liberal Democratic Party’s expected landslide victory could give new momentum to casino legalization, but only if Abe and his allies begin convincing the Japanese public that casinos are a good idea.

Totally globalized native New Yorker and former broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is a blogger for Forbes and author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about television news, love, betrayal, high finance, and cheap lingerie. See his bio, online archive and more at www.muhammadcohen.com; follow him on Facebook and Twitter @MuhammadCohen.