MGM Osaka Is Set to Become Japan's First Integrated Resort

Ed Bowers, President and CEO of MGM Japan, says he is aware of the concerns that bringing a casino to the world's fourth-largest economy may raise. Bowers notes that reservations about opening a casino of this scale for the first time in the country are widespread, but that there is also interest and excitement about the project in Osaka. Osaka, often referred to as Japan's second-largest city, is expected to rank first in one area.

The facility, developed in a partnership between MGM Resorts International and Orix Group, has an estimated cost of 1.5 trillion yen, or about $9.5 billion. The structure is rising on Yumeshima island, which hosted the 2025 World Expo, and its opening is targeted for the end of 2030. Ground improvement and liquefaction risk reduction work is ongoing at the construction site. About 3,600 support columns are being driven into the island's ground.

The facility will have a total floor area of 780,000 square meters. The main building will reach 27 floors and will house two hotels together with the casino. The three hotels will have 2,500 rooms in total, and more than 20 percent of the rooms are designed as suites between 105 and 150 square meters. The facility will also include 36,171 square meters of conference space, 330,000 square feet of exhibition space, and a 3,500-seat theater.

Japanese regulations require integrated resorts to include a tourism hub. According to Bowers, Japan's real goal is not only to attract visitors to the facility, but to direct them to other regions of the country. Japan welcomed 42.68 million international visitors last year. The number of visitors from mainland China, however, fell by 56.7 percent to about 3.8 million.