Now that the Japanese government has signed off on gambling, at least one governor is getting anxious for the country to start the casino licensing process. Osaka’s governor, Ichiro Matsui, wants the central government to speed up the process for the first round of casino resorts and allow those communities selected for the resorts to be designated “planned certification areas.”

In a report last Thursday in Asia Gaming Brief, the governor indicated that the new label would be a huge step forward for the municipalities that are vying to be one of the three designated resort areas. He said that it would help make the selection process quicker and give them an opportunity to select a preferred operating partner before a final bid is submitted to the government.

He further indicated that he believes the area designation should be distributed to those locations that have already indicated that they are interested in a resort, before the three final winners are named.

Osaka hopes to win one of the licenses; if it does, it has already said that it would like to build an integrated resort on Yumeshima Island by 2024. Matsui pointed out that the city, which has just under nine million residents, wants to select an operating partner by the end of this year and the designation would help it week out those operators who are not truly serious about the endeavor.