Japan plans tech and tourism hub around upcoming $3.9 billion MGM Osaka resort

Japan is preparing to turn Osaka’s Yumeshima Island into a high-tech tourism hub anchored by MGM Osaka, the country’s first casino-integrated resort, building on momentum from the 2025 World Expo.

The artificial island, created nearly 50 years ago for logistics and waste disposal, is being repositioned as a global leisure and innovation district under a long-term redevelopment plan by Osaka Prefecture.

MGM Osaka, a JPY28 billion ($3.92 billion) joint venture between MGM Resorts International and Japan’s Orix Corporation, is scheduled to open in 2030. The project will feature Japan’s first legal casino alongside hotels, MICE facilities, retail outlets, and entertainment venues. It is expected to attract around 20 million visitors annually.

The 2025 World Expo, held on the island, drew more than 25 million people, with pavilions showcasing technologies such as flying cars, AI robots, and artificial hearts developed from stem cells. Authorities intend to convert the former Expo grounds into commercial and leisure facilities surrounding the resort.

Additional proposals from investors include a Formula 1 racetrack, luxury hotels, and a water park.

“The expo site is vast, and synergy with the IR is expected. It is important not to simply end the project with a large-scale development, but to adopt strategies with a medium- to long-term economic outlook,” Hideyuki Araki of the Resona Research Institute told Japan News.

Public sentiment toward the casino remains divided. A November 2024 survey showed 30.6% in favour of the plan, 36.7% neutral, and nearly one-third opposed, citing gambling addiction risks.

Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura has defended the project, saying the resort “will create an overwhelmingly extraordinary space, generating new demand in tourism and business and serving as a catalyst for Osaka’s economic growth.”

Orix Kansai representative Toyonori Takahashi said the resort would rival established Asian integrated resorts, “particularly in Macau and Singapore.”