Report: Hokkaido Explores Sapporo Casino IR Feasibility in Bid to Reignite Major Operator Interest

As Japan prepares to reopen bidding next year for its two remaining integrated resort licenses, a new report reveals that Hokkaido is actively weighing a potential casino bid in Sapporo.

The Cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi issued an order in April pledging the government’s continued support of promoting Japan as a “tourism nation.”

The notice revealed that Takaichi, the president of the Liberal Democratic Party who is considered a protégé of Shinzo Abe, the late prime minister who championed the 2018 casino bill, will carry on his wishes to diversify Japan’s leisure attractions.

The integrated resort bill is also designed to make Japan a premier destination in Asia for global MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions) events.

GGRAsia, an online news source for gaming across Asia, reported today that Hokkaido is reviving its interest in the forthcoming IR market. Almost six years after Japan’s National Diet passed the gaming bill, only one casino project, the ¥1.27 trillion (US$7.8 billion) MGM Osaka, has been greenlit.

Hokkaido Fielding Interest

GGRAsia reports that the Hokkaido Prefecture will soon solicit interest from global casino companies and gauge banks’ willingness to participate in a likely multibillion-dollar casino resort project.

Though Hokkaido is Japan’s second-largest prefecture by area, it ranks ninth in population with about five million people. Hokkaido is Japan’s northernmost prefecture. Osaka is the third-most populous prefecture with 8.8 million people.  

Hokkaido previously expressed interest in a casino, with its capital, Sapporo, mentioned as a possible host site. Sapporo is where Japan’s oldest beer brand originated, though today the Sapporo brewery is headquartered in Tokyo.

In 2019, Mohegan, the commercial gaming unit of the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut, opened an office in Hokkaido’s Tomakomai.

“At the Tomakomai office, we plan to install not only the Mohegan company profile but Mohegan’s corporate philosophy, corporate social responsibility (CSR) business model, and an IR vision book,” a company statement at the time read.

Mohegan’s Hokkaido office was short-lived, as its Japan IR headquarters was closed by the end of 2019. Mohegan instead focused its foreign energies on South Korea, which turned out to be a bad bet that resulted in the firm losing its $1.6 billion Inspire Entertainment Resort investment.  

Will a Sands or Wynn Bite?

Once hailed as the most lucrative market opportunity since Macau opened its doors to foreign operators, enthusiasm for Japanese integrated resorts remains largely muted—and Hokkaido’s potential entry may not move the needle.

Industry giants like Las Vegas Sands, Wynn Resorts, and Caesars Entertainment pulled back from Japan after years of regulatory delays and rising development costs.

All three have remained silent regarding the central government’s upcoming 2027 application window, and analysts expect them to stay on the sidelines unless a major metropolis like Tokyo or Yokohama enters the frame.