Mie Governor Puts Brakes on Kuwana IR Bid

Akihabara News (Tokyo) — New Mie Governor Katsuyuki Ichimi has flashed the yellow card to IR development plans at Nagashima Spa Land, a major amusement park in Kuwana city, almost certainly dooming the long-shot initiative.

“The biggest problem,” the governor explained to the Mie Prefectural Assembly, “is that I wonder if it is really good that the wealth accumulated by the residents of the prefecture should legally flow to overseas businesses.”

He added, “The most important thing is the understanding of the residents. I would like to pay close attention to whether the residents of the local municipalities are convinced.”

With the deadline for IR licensing applications less than five months distant, the governor’s skeptical response probably brings an effective end to the matter—at least in terms of the first round of development.

Previous Mie Governor Eikei Suzuki had also been negative about IR development, but Kawana Mayor Narutaka Ito seems to have become more convinced about the merits. The mayor might have believed that new Governor Ichimi—a former bureaucrat of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism—might be more positive about the IR initiative.

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