14 May 2012 A Day at the Races
Horse-racing is big in Japan, much more popular than it is in America. This weekend we went down to the horse-racing track in Yodo (south of Kyoto) with our friends the Kamadas. I had never been before, and was surprised at how family-friendly the whole place was. There was a big area where you could picnic while watching the horses, and both ponies and a playground for the kids. It was somewhat like big park that just happened to have horses thundering past every half-hour or so. The only iffiness visible was inside near the betting booths, such as a few people whom I wanted to admonish not to bet the last of their welfare checks.
Zoe’s turn to roll down the hill. By pure coincidence she had received these second-hand cowboy boots from a cousin just a couple days before.
It was interesting to me that Genbo felt compelled to pick (seemingly at random) some horse to root for. Acculturation or the Y-chromosome acting up?
This is the “paddock” area, where the horses are displayed before the race. The guys under the immaculately manicured tree in the middle film the horses going around in a circle for the TV broadcast.
Surprisingly, the line for the ponies was not that long. We went on Saturday, but apparently it’s much more crowded on Sunday.
1 comment in “A Day at the Races”
May 14th, 2012 at 2:14 pm
With Genbo’s “Stopping to look dashing on the slide”, it wouldn’t surprise me if Johnny comes to tap him for the next boy band.