A Run in the Rain with Horses at Keiba

    Despite the gloomy, rainy, windy weather on that day, our batch of international students from YNU’s little known YCCS program was schdeuled to venture to Tokyo City Keiba, a horse racing venue, on May 21st.

     As an excursion to practice promotion and advertisement, we went to observe the atmosphere from the perspective of tourists who would be arriving through Haneda airport. After traveling to the airport by train, we experienced as any visitor would, by taking the Tokyo Monorail from the airport. Shortly after our arrival, the rain stopped, and the first few rounds of races were set to begin.

    The overall atmosphere of Keiba was different from what I had been expecting. I've never been to a horse race in the U.S., or any other country for that matter, so I did not anticipate to see much. Upon entering the gates, the venue looked similar to a fairground or carnival. There were food stands and statues of horses on the walk to the race track arena. Because of our assignment and sponsorship, we were brought to the upper level, a VIP seating area, which would normally cost about ￥2000 ($20 USD). With floor to ceiling glass and tiered seating, the interior was reminiscent of a spacious, modern movie theater. However, instead of watching a movie on a screen, we watched the horses live in front of our eyes.

Although uninteresting at first, being able to observe the reactions and attitutes of people around us change as the stakes became higher showed how quickly visitors were absrobed into the races. It also displayed how when money is involved, people suddenly become interested. With this kind of investment, its loose loose loose win, or maybe win win loose loose loose. Clearly, some people lost more than they made, but the tension of chance adds to the excitement of the atmosphere. Where there's a big win, you can tell, and suddenly, a new light of possibilty becomes encouraging for both the people who won and those around them who aspire to make a fortune in their amount of time spent at the tracks.

    At night time, there are illuminations in between the races, adding another nice thing to look at while visitors are waiting for the next race to begin.

 Even if you don't like horse racing, Tokyo Keiba is an experience in itself. You should visit at least once in your life, just to see what it's like. 

This post is supported by Tokyo City Keiba, one of City-Cost's Supporters helping City-Cost bloggers to enjoy life in Japan and engage in new experiences.