Japan’s casino bill has cleared the legislature’s upper house despite a flurry of last-minute procedural tactics by opponents of gambling expansion.

On Friday, the final day of the Diet’s current legislative session, the House of Councillors formally approved the Integrated Resorts (IR) Implementation Bill. The bill’s passage marked the climax of a multi-year process that faced innumerable obstacles, including a majority of the Japanese public that remains deeply skeptical on the merits of gambling expansion.

The bill calls for a maximum of three large-scale gaming venues to be constructed in cities that have yet to be determined. After the first IR location has been established, a seven-year clock will start, after which the government will review whether to permit the construction of additional IRs.

The first licenses aren’t expected to be issued until 2020, while the expected scale of these projects mean the first casino isn’t likely to open for another five years after that.