As reported recently, several local Japanese companies active in the city of Chiba have banded together in order to improve their community’s chances of being granted one of three in total integrated casino resort licenses. The Japanese central government is offering three licenses up for grabs in total and the city of Chiba hopes to be a recipient of one of them. The city of Chiba is the capital of Chiba Prefecture sitting about forty kilometers or twenty-five miles from the Tokyo Bay.
As estimated in June of 2019, the city’s population was almost one million citizens across its area of 104.93 square miles or 271.77 square kilometers. The city is also one of the Kanto area’s main seaports named China Port which manages one of the biggest cargo volumes for the entire nation. Many areas of the Chiba city are residential even though there are warehouses and factories located along its coastal area.
There is also a number of urban centers including Makuhari which is a business district and Central Chiba where the city hall and the government office are situated. The city of Chiba is famous for the biggest shell mound, the very first artificial beach, and several more attractions and its officials firmly believe that adding an integrated casino resort will significantly boost its tourism.
Chiba Hoping to Beat Off Its Competition including Osaka, Sasebo, and Yokohama
As previously mentioned, the city of Chiba is home to almost one million people with a variety of cultural, educational and business centers. The city’s officials hope that its very close proximity to the country’s capital as well as its close proximity to a variety of international airports will be of great assistance in beating off its main competition including Osaka, Sasebo, and Yokohama. Just like the city of Chiba, these Japanese cities are also hoping to be selected for integrated casino resort licenses.
In order to further improve the city’s odds of becoming the home to one of the gambling-friendly resort facilities, the city’s local construction company Shinnihon Corporation has partnered with an area manufacturing company Kitz Corporation and ten smaller companies with the main purpose of establishing an entity named as MICE IR Chiba. As reported by Inside Asian Gaming, this new private entity has quickly collected over $3.2 million and will focus its efforts on attracting more new business partners.
In the meantime, MICE IR Chiba also works on formulating new ways in order to assist the city in bringing a fully integrated casino resort to its central area. As also reported by Inside Asian Gaming, the company is currently led by Kazue Kanesuna as its President who also serves as the Shinnihon Corporation’s Chairman. Furthermore, Mr. Kanesuna also hopes to convince the city’s government officials to favor the Chiba’s Makuhari district for its gambling-friendly facility instead of its Chiba Central district.
Makuhari District Already Home to an Exhibition Center and Marine Stadium
This district of the city of Chiba situated along the Tokyo Bay shores is already a rich cultural, educational and entertainment area as it serves as home to the massive, more than 79,000 square feet Makuhari Messe center as well as to the more than 30,000-seats included Zozo Marine Stadium among a variety of other facilities.
According to Mr. Kanesuna, the new gambling-friendly entity to this rich Chiba’s district with an extensive infrastructure makes it a perfect spot for the country’s coming casinos. Other companies that have already supported MICE IR Chiba include Tsukamoto Sogyo which is a local property developer company in addition to Chiba Sokkei and Ninomiya among several others.
