{"id":1492306,"date":"2021-11-15T12:24:54","date_gmt":"2021-11-15T12:24:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vegasslotsonline.com\/news\/?p=127054"},"modified":"2021-11-15T12:24:54","modified_gmt":"2021-11-15T12:24:54","slug":"wakayama-residents-push-for-referendum-on-proposed-integrated-casino-resort","status":"publish","type":"station","link":"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/plato-data\/wakayama-residents-push-for-referendum-on-proposed-integrated-casino-resort\/","title":{"rendered":"Wakayama Residents Push for Referendum on Proposed Integrated Casino Resort"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/div>\n

Collecting signatures<\/h2>\n

A little over one month since Yokohama walked away from its integrated resort (IR) bid, the tide could also be turning on the equivalent project in Wakayama. Residents of the prefecture in Japan\u2019s Kansai region are collecting signatures for a referendum on plans for an IR in Marina City.<\/p>\n

Tokyo-based news platform Akihabara News<\/em> took to Twitter last week to confirm that the citizens\u2019 group is campaigning for a referendum on the IR:<\/p>\n

\n<\/figure>\n

\u201cI want us to engage in serious discussions, not just leave big issues like this one to the governor, the mayor, and other politicians,\u201d Akihabara<\/em> quoted citizen volunteer Kaya Ikeda as saying.<\/p>\n

The Wakayama residents have deemed the IR a major issue for the city\u2019s citizens, and argue that they should have a say on whether or not the casino project goes ahead. Over 6,200 signatures will allow them to request the mayor to call for a referendum. The group is aiming for 20,000 signatures by December 5.<\/p>\n

According to press reports, the residents have already gathered 3,000 signatures.<\/p>\n

Last chance to stop the IR<\/h2>\n

According to Akihabara News<\/em>, petitioning for a referendum is \u201cessentially the final chance for direct citizen action\u201d<\/a> to put a stop to the IR project.<\/p>\n

\n

Osaka, Nagasaki, and Wakayama remain in the running for an IR<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Last year, a similar citizens\u2019 push in Yokohama collected the requisite number of signatures, only to have the referendum blocked by the city council. Yokohama, nevertheless, withdrew its bid for an IR license in September 2021<\/a>. Only Osaka, Nagasaki, and Wakayama remain in the running for an IR license, although there\u2019s no guarantee Japan\u2019s government will award all three.<\/p>\n

The major difference between Yokohama\u2019s and Wakayama\u2019s referendum push, however, is that the latter\u2019s petitioning drive comes with construction plans for the region\u2019s IR project already underway. Earlier this year, the Wakayama prefecture selected a consortium led by Clairvest Neem Ventures as its partner for constructing and operating the casino.<\/p>\n

Even before the approval of the national IR development act in 2018, Clairvest Neem was one of the earliest participants in the race for an IR license in Japan.<\/div>\n

The prefecture later confirmed Caesars Entertainment as the future operator of the casino. Together, the consortium and prefecture are preparing an area development plan ahead of an April 2022 deadline for submission to the central government.<\/p>\n

Shades of Yokohama?<\/h2>\n

Whether Wakayama residents cobble together enough signatures to initiate a referendum remains to be seen. Yokohama residents collected around 193,000 signatures for their referendum that never went ahead. Instead, the city\u2019s IR hopes effectively ended when citizens elected anti-IR candidate Takeharu Yamanaka as mayor in August.<\/p>\n

Wakayama resident groups are well aware of the power they hold. Citizen leader Yasushi Toyoda pointed to Yokohama for comparison, arguing that the drive for signatures increased awareness among residents and \u201caffected the mayoral election.\u201d<\/p>\n

Toyoda posited: \u201cIsn\u2019t it the basis of democracy to listen to the voices of citizens about what kind of town development we will provide for ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren?\u201d<\/div>\n

Although the date is not yet set in stone, casino backers expect Japan\u2019s IRs to open their doors in the second half of the 2020s.<\/p>\n

Source: https:\/\/www.vegasslotsonline.com\/news\/2021\/11\/15\/wakayama-residents-push-for-referendum-on-proposed-integrated-casino-resort\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1492307,"template":"","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","type":"","auto_type":false,"post":"","stream":"","stream_url":"","waveform_data":[],"duration":0,"bpm":0,"downloadable":false,"download_url":"","purchase_title":"","purchase_url":"","post-count-all":0,"like_count":0,"download_count":0,"editor_note":"","copyright":"","captions":[]},"genre":[102],"artist":[110],"mood":[],"activity":[],"station_tag":[3785,6949,3620,5253,5448,5709,3705,5584,3706,5387,8256,6164,8243,5256,5893,10337,8931,8262,8115,5813,8922,7331,5730,3640,6305,8816,5406,5565,3643,3645,3646,7770,5617,6995,3650,7924,5225,5226,5425,3757,5481,3667,5545,5429,5487,5954,8259,5546,5632,7419,3678,3690,11132,6827,3694,3732,8293,7974,9633,5640,3697,5279],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/station\/1492306"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/station"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/station"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1492307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1492306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"genre","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/genre?post=1492306"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=1492306"},{"taxonomy":"mood","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mood?post=1492306"},{"taxonomy":"activity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/activity?post=1492306"},{"taxonomy":"station_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platogaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/station_tag?post=1492306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}