The IR would cost about $3.2bn, include 2,200 slot machines and 220 table games, and attract up to 8.4 million visitors a year, generating $2.9bn for the economy, reported AGB.

“We will construct an IR appealing to all with CAI’s full support and safety and security as the top priorities. We will come together with Nagasaki prefecture and Kyushu’s corporations to create an area development plan in order to gain approval for Kyushu/Nagasaki as an IR area,” said the company.

“In cooperation with Kyushu/Nagasaki companies, we aim to build a world-class IR with a traditional sense of luxury that will lead to a wave of economic effects throughout all of Kyushu.”

Together with Nagasaki, Osaka and Wakayama are also aiming for the IR spot. Osaka announced it will reveal its IR development plan by the end of 2021. Osaka’s selected partner is MGM Resorts and Orix consortium, and the $10bn IR will be developed on Yumeshima Island, with plans to open in the late 2020s, reported Inside Asian Gaming.

“We believe we can achieve a growth IR with the highest standards in the world,” said Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura. “The prefecture and city will work together with the selected operator to confirm and adjust the proposed details and create an attractive development plan that will lead to local economic growth. Our intention is to finish before the year ends and we will proceed steadily with the necessary procedures to gain the approval of the prefectural assembly and then apply to the national government.”