Osaka authorities estimate the economic impact of an integrated leisure complex including hotel, shopping malls, cinemas and casino at nearly eight billion euros per year. They expect to welcome twenty million visitors a year from Japan and abroad.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the opening of a first casino in Osaka, the country's third-largest city, should "contribute to the development of the region and convey Japan's attractions to the world" The legalization of this industry in 2016 is still controversial.