Osaka Seeks To Build Japan's First Casino Resorts

OSAKA, JAPAN - FEBRUARY 21: Commercial buildings are seen over the Osaka Bay as container ship sails to container terminal near the Yumeshima Island on February 21, 2017, in Osaka, Japan. Osaka prefecture's political and business leaders announced their construction plan to develop the artificial island, Yumeshima Island or 'Island of Dreams' in the Osaka Bay as Japan's first large scale casino resorts including convention centers, hotels, shopping facilities and exhibition halls. According to the plan, the first area to be developed is approximately 70 of 390 hectares of the Yumeshima Island, which would be turned into the core of the integrated resort - casinos, hotels and exhibition halls. The estimated cost of construction and development is 824 billion Japanese yen (approx. 73 million USD.) The Japanese government passed the bill for the Integrated Resort (IR bill) to legalize casinos in the resort developments comprising hotels, entertainment, shopping, restaurants, and other tourist attractions, in the end of 2016. (Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images)