With the launch of the request-for-proposal (RFP) process, five operators were selected during the first round that started on 1 March, but after a review, the local Government proceeded to the next selection round with only three.

The two operators that didn’t make the cut were Current Group, a consortium consisting of Current, Get Nice, Guangdong Group, Success Universe and ITC Properties, and One Kyushu, a joint effort from Pixel Companyz and France-based Groupe Partouche.

The next selection round consists of a competitive dialogue with operators, which should be held at some point in May. The secondary examination documents should be submitted in June; in August, the potential IR operators would have to present their projects to the prefecture, with the local Government then selecting the IR partner.

Prefectures contending for one of the three spots on Japan’s IR list would have to submit their proposals to the national Government by 2022, with the predicted construction scheduled for the mid to late 2020s.