The pace of the bill’s approval was “like a thunderbolt from the sky,” said gaming industry consultant

By Daniel Hurst @ Asia Times Online, March 3

Global gaming companies, such as Las Vegas Sands and Hard Rock International, recently flew top executives into Tokyo to declare they are ready to invest in developing resorts in Japan, an enthusiasm triggered by the government’s plans to change current laws that forbid casino gambling.

The speed at which Japan’s government moved in December to pass the first piece of legislation on gaming surprised even supporters of the casino plans. The government is now working on a second bill to hammer out more details. The pace of the bill’s passage was “like a thunderbolt from the sky,” said Takashi Kiso, who runs a company providing gaming industry consulting services.

With a poll by the Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s biggest daily newspaper, indicating two-thirds of respondents opposed the legislation and just one in four were in favor, Kiso says Japan needs a broader and more inclusive debate about the issue [....]