Photo/Illutration A casino-centered integrated resort is planned on the artificial Yumeshima island in Osaka’s Konohana Ward. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Opponents outnumbered proponents concerning plans to build an integrated resort featuring a casino in Osaka city, the main issue in Osaka’s upcoming double elections, an Asahi Shimbun telephone survey showed.

But such opposition may not be enough to defeat regional party Osaka Ishin no Kai, which is pushing the casino-related resort project.

Both the Osaka mayoral election and Osaka prefectural gubernatorial election will be held on April 9.

The survey, conducted on April 1 and 2, showed that 47 percent of city residents were against the integrated resort plan, compared with 37 percent who were in favor.

Fifty percent of men supported the plan, while 55 percent of women were opposed.

Among respondents aged 18 to 29, 51 percent supported the casino plan, while 60 percent of those aged 70 or older were against it.

Many city residents who favored the plan said they would vote for Hideyuki Yokoyama, a newcomer who is backed by Osaka Ishin in the mayoral election.

Many voters who were against the casino plan said they would vote for Taeko Kitano, an independent newcomer.

Among all prefectural residents, 43 percent were opposed to the resort plan, slightly more than the 37 percent who supported the idea, the survey showed.

By gender, 51 percent of men were in favor of the plan, while 51 percent of women were against it.

The majority of prefectural residents, both in favor and against the casino bid, said they would vote for incumbent Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura, the leader of Osaka Ishin.

ISHIN LEADS IN DOUBLE ELECTIONS

Yoshimura has maintained a comfortable lead in the election. He is backed by about 90 percent of Ishin supporters and is also strong with unaffiliated voters.

Independent newcomer Mayumi Taniguchi is a legal scholar backed by the Liberal Democratic Party and the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. The parties withheld their endorsement and allowed their lawmakers to decide whether or not to support Taniguchi in the election.

She is backed by less than 10 percent of the LDP supporters, according to the survey.

Independent newcomer Kotaro Tatsumi, a former Upper House lawmaker, is backed by the Japanese Communist Party, but he has struggled to expand his support beyond the party.

In the mayoral election, Osaka Ishin-backed Yokoyama has a slight lead over Kitano, and the other candidates are far behind.

Yokoyama, a former prefectural assembly member, has gained the support of the majority of the party’s supporters, as well as 60 percent of unaffiliated voters, the survey showed.

Kitano, who was an Osaka city assembly member of the LDP, is strong among CDP supporters, but she has only won over slightly more than 30 percent of LDP supporters, according to the survey.

Forty percent of city residents and nearly 70 percent of prefectural residents did not disclose how they would vote.

The survey was conducted by contacting fixed telephone numbers selected at random by a computer.

The survey takers received 604 valid responses, or 57 percent, from 1,069 households in the city with at least one eligible voter each.

There were 772 valid responses, or 56 percent, from 1,374 households in the prefecture with at least one eligible voter each.

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