Melco’s Ho punting big on Osaka than Tokyo

If the Macau billionaire will have it his way, Lawrence Ho would want to build a casino in Osaka than in Tokyo.

Ho, who owns Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd., believes that smaller Japanese cities like Osaka is packed with lots of opportunities as entertainment destination over Tokyo.

Japan has not yet decided where to put its own entertainment city months after it legalized casinos in their country but, so far, Tokyo, Osaka, and Yokohama are emerging as likely candidates for casino resorts under the Japanese government’s new bidding framework.

Bloomberg reported that Ho is looking for an area in Japan where “fun” is located and he apparently sees this more in Osaka and the surrounding Kansai region, home to attractions such as Universal Studios Japan and the city of Kyoto, famed for its Buddhist temples.