"Building a casino will create employment for 10,000 people."

These are the magic words that Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara hopes will win approval for his plan to develop casino facilities in Tokyo -- even though gambling is currently illegal in Japan.

And it seems his hunch may be correct. In a stagnant economic climate, with unemployment topping 5 percent, people throughout Japan -- from the general public to government officials -- have been taking heed of the governor's proposals.