And gambling? Who said gambling is illegal in Japan? Betting on horse races is not only legal, it is fully machine-automated. The Japan Racing Association (JRA) which runs it all is overseen by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. You can bet either at the tracks, or remotely from a local Wins facility (http://jra.jp/facilities/wins.html) or even on a mobile app. The legal age to buy a ticket is 20, but with betting done on anonymous, automated machines I suspect the enforcement rate is less than perfect.

Kyoto Racecourse

Horse racing has the heart of its popularity with men over age forty. That much is clear from the very, very racy adult-video and adult-services ads found near the back of the horse racing “sports” newspapers sold at every single convenience store in the country. But that doesn’t stop groups of young girls, old ladies or even whole families from enjoying a day at the racetracks. Like going to a concert or baseball game, horse racing is a legitimate weekend excursion and if you don’t get carried away with betting, it’s also easily one of the most affordable all-day activities in the country (admission to a racetrack is a nominal 100 or 200 yen, depending on the location).

So, how accessible is keiba for foreigners? Obviously if you just want to enjoy the atmosphere and the races you don’t need to know a thing, but most people will want to bet at least a couple hundred yen.

Don’t expect much in the way of English signage or instructions, but to fill out the betting card, you’ll only need to recognize the sections of the betting card and a few key kanji terms, which I’ll explain here. There are a few different kinds of betting cards; I’ll introduce the easy one.

Location

You must specify which racetrack’s race you want to bet on. This is necessary because on a given weekend, either two or three of these locations will be having races. You’re not limited to betting on the races at your current course and there are plentiful monitors with constant live coverage of any other locations running races. The locations as listed are:

• 中山 – Nakayama (Funabashi, Chiba prefecture)
• 東京 – Tokyo
• 京都 – Kyoto
• 阪神 – Hanshin (near Kobe)
• 福島 – Fukushima
• 新潟 – Niigata
• 中京 – Chukyo (near Nagoya)
• 小倉 – Kokura (northern Kyuushu)
• 札幌 – Sapporo
• 函館 – Hakodate

There are also many “local” (地方 – chihou) race courses scattered around Japan, but they’re quite a bit smaller-scale than the major courses listed above. Horses that do well in the local races have a chance to move up to the major locations, so it’s kind of like the minor league of horse racing. In some cases you can bet remotely from the local courses but not vice versa.

Race Number

A day of racing consists of 12 races, starting at about 9am and ending at about 4pm. Races 1~6 are typically for younger horses and not a particularly big deal. The big races start after lunch. Race 11 is usually reserved for the day’s finest horses and biggest prize.

Bet Types

Here you specify the type of bet that you are making, which will apply to all bets made on the same side of the card (on the back of the card you can specify the same type again or a different one). If you’re new to betting the types can be quite confusing, but you’re certainly not required to know all of them. Just pick a one or two types that you like.

• 単勝 – tanshou – Win (choose the horse to finish in 1st place)
• 複勝 – fukushou – Place/Show (choose a horse to finish 2nd or 3rd )
• 単+複 – tanpuku – Win, Place or Show (choose a horse to finish 1st, 2nd or 3rd )
  • This is a convenience option to buy both 単勝 and 複勝 at the same time. It is still considered two bets so if your bet amount is 100 yen, it’ll cost 200.
• 枠連 – wakuren – A “frame” bet. Chose the frames of the 1st and 2nd place horses in any order.
  • Horses in a race are divided into “frames”, typically of two horses, and they share a color. So for example frame 1 would usually mean horse 1 and 2, frame 2 would be horse 3 and 4 and so on. This option is not particularly popular.
• 馬連 – baren – Choose the two horses to finish in 1st and 2nd place. (Quinella)
• 馬単 – batan – Choose the two horses to finish in 1st and 2nd place, in order. (Exacta)
• ワイド – “Wide” – Choose two horses to finish in the top three.
• ３連複 – sanrenpuku – Choose the top three horses in any order. (Trio)
• ３連単 – sanrentan – Choose the top three horses in order. (Trifecta)

Of course, the specificity of the bet and the odds of the particular horse determine the payout. 100 yen on a 複勝 of a popular (low odds) horse is very likely to win, but you’ll barely get your money back. On the other hand, a ３連単 of high odds horses could turn your 100 yen into 100,000 or more (lottery-like returns mean lottery-like chances).

Horse Numbers

This is where you choose horses to bet on. Depending on your bet type, you will mark up to 3 horses per row. Because this is the simple card, you can only make one bet in each of the four rows on this side, and they must all be the same bet type.

Bet amount

Be very careful not to make a mistake here. Choose a number and then a factor.

万円 – 10,000 yen
千円 – 1,000 yen
百円 – 100 yen

So to bet 300 yen you would fill in the 3 and the 百円 box.

Cancel bet

If you made a mistake or changed your mind and want to cancel a specific bet but still use the card, check this box.

Here’s an example of a completed betting card:

This card would bet a total of 300 yen, 200 on horse #5 to win, and 100 on horse #15. Notice how the 200 yen bet on horse #15 is canceled.

Once you’ve finished your betting card, using the machine is a breeze. It might look a little confusing but here’s the breakdown (machines can vary slightly from location to location):

Insert money → Insert betting card →　Machine does the rest

The only caveat is that if you don’t give it exactly the right amount of money, you need to press that green 精算 button to let the machine know you’re done and want your change.

If you made a mistake on your betting card, the machine will beep and spit it back out at you, which can be confusing. However, worry not because helpful attendants are quick to come to your rescue even if you don’t press the call button.

If everything worked correctly, your betting card will disappear forever but that’s okay because you can’t claim with it anyway. Just don’t forget to take your ticket! Which will look something like this ↓

If you win, you can insert your ticket into the appropriately-sized slot of any machine marked for 払い戻し (haraimodoshi – “payout”) to get your winnings.

Other considerations when visiting the racetracks

There will be a food court, maybe some in-facility restaurants and probably outdoor food trucks/stalls or bento vendors, but prices are above average (not gouging, though) and the food is not particularly mouth-watering, so consider bringing food or drink from the outside (race courses allow you to bring in whatever you want, even beer).

Similar to doing hanami in the park, it’s common to bring a small tarp to sit on, especially on crowded days (= days with G1 races). Once you’re set up, you may come and go from your tarp freely and can reasonably expect other spectators to respect the area as taken–hooray for Japanese courtesy. You’ll notice that almost all actual seats are either in use or have some newspaper or something on them; a seat with anything on it (usually an unattended keiba newspaper) is considered taken.

Speaking of newspapers, if you can read some Japanese and are not adverse to a few nipples, consider picking up one of the horse racing newspapers from a convenience store before you go. The cheaper papers run about 140 yen and contain lots of information on the horses and predictions from “experts”. You’ll get the most out of this if you have someone with you to explain what all the data means, though.

Although about as reliable as spinning a cucumber to decide which horse will win, newcomers to horse racing generally take notice of the expert’s marks in the newspaper, which include:

◎ : favored to win
○ : also has a good chance to win

Any other symbol (△▲×☆, etc) basically means the same thing: the horse could conceivably win, but is seen as less likely than the horses marked with ◎ or ○. There is no bad mark, so any mark is better than none at all.

Useful links

JRA homepage: http://japanracing.jp/en/go-racing/jra-racecourses/index.html
JRA official english betting guide: http://japanracing.jp/en/go-racing/jra-howtobet/pdf/how_to_bet_en.pdf

And that’s all you need to know to become a Japanese horse racing addict!

I’m joking, of course. Just like going to a casino you should play to have fun, not to make money and keep yourself under control.

I bet you’ve heard Japan is an expensive country. In many ways it is, but not everything has to cost you an arm and a leg. In this article, I give some of my favorite tips to either save money in Japan, or to get more out of your money.

Get Cheap Airfare

I won’t go into this too much since saving on airfare is a general thing, not a Japan thing. If you’re looking for how to save on airfare, I’m sure there’s a ton of other articles out there. I will share a couple of tidbits from my own experience, however.

Delta and Air Canada have handy price grids showing the cost of the ticket a few days before and after the specific dates you search. The cost variation can be very significant. Knowing which days are cheaper is good info, even if you end up flying on another airline.

Also, I’ve found that airfare aggregation sites like Expedia, Priceline and Travelocity are good as a starting point for your search, but you’re usually able to get the same ticket for cheaper if you buy it directly from the airline.

Get a Good Exchange Rate

Japan is still largely a cash-based society, meaning your average restaurant or souvenir shop will not take a credit card; plan to use cash for almost everything. Worry not, though, since Japan is also probably the safest country in the world to walk around with a load of cash.

However, if possible (and if your credit card offers a fair exchange rate) it’s a good idea to pay for your lodging with your card. This is primarily because you will need cash for just about everything else.

The best way fill your wallet with yen in Japan is to exchange cash at the airport right after you arrive. There are ATMs at post offices and convenience stores that allow you to access cash, but you won’t beat the airport rate by more than a percent.

In the US, we have the perception that everything is a rip-off at airports, but in the case of Japan this is actually the most convenient and reasonable place to convert your currency. Check out the current rates you’ll get at Narita airport here: http://www.narita-airport.or.jp/exchange_e/ and if you want to have a good laugh, call your bank and ask them what rate you would get if you ordered JPY from them.

Weekly/Monthly Mansions

(Note: in Japan, the term “Mansion” (マンション) is synonymous with apartment. It certainly does NOT mean “big fancy estate with a butler, swimming pool and two tennis courts”)

There are companies that will rent living space on either a weekly or monthly basis, referred to as ウィークリーマンション or マンスリーマンション, respectively. Primarily, these companies cater to Japanese clients who are temporarily transferred to a job location that is too far from their home to commute. However, many of these companies will also rent rooms to foreigners if the foreigner in question either 1) displays adequate mastery of Japanese to be a signing party to a contract or 2) has a Japanese guarantor who will sign for them.

How much can you save here? Last year, I rented a “mansion” for 1 month (including Golden Week, a time when hotel prices often double or triple) in Nagoya for $1050, so basically $36/day (it was a very small one-room apartment). At that price, alternative options would include hostels, capsule hotels or very questionable business hotels. I’ll take the private apartment, please.

Another big bonus to weekly/monthly rentals is that they’re usually equipped with some basic equipment like a refrigerator, hot water pot, rice cooker, microwave and stove top. Many will rent extras such as bicycles upon request (I rented one for about $35).

If you’ve got the Japanese skills or a good Japanese friend to help you, here’s some sites to get you started:

• http://www.good-monthly.com/
• http://www.leopalace21.com/
• http://www.monthly-mansion.com/
• http://atinn.jp/ (this is where I rented from, because they specialize in Nagoya-area monthly/weekly rentals)

Rent a SIM Card or Portable Wi-fi

Depending on your carrier and plan, staying connected in a foreign country can cost a ton. But if you’re flexible, you can pull it off for a lot less than you might think.

For my trip last year, I took an unlocked Galaxy S3 and swapped in a rented SIM card from eConnect Japan. Naturally, while I was in Japan people couldn’t call me at my USA number, but I don’t get any meaningful phone calls anyway. The SIM card cost me $50 for 1 GB of data to use over 30 days. That’s plenty to do everything I usually do on the internet (email, a few Skype calls, Line, maps, web browsing, train searching), and the speed/connectivity is better than I was used to getting back home.

If you’ve got a phone that’s locked to your carrier or also need to use the internet on other devices, your best option will probably be a portable Wi-Fi point.

Japan Rail Pass

Many of you probably already know about the legendary Japan Rail Pass, but this article wouldn’t be complete without mentioning it, so here goes…

If you plan on leaving your arrival city in Japan, you should definitely look into the Japan rail pass. It gives you the freedom to get on and off of whatever JR trains you want (including the Hikari and Kodama bullet trains) at whatever stations you want. In other words, you get almost* free roam of Japan’s amazing rail system.

*: just note that it only works on trains which are operated by Japan Rail. That excludes many intra-city trains (especially subways, which are mostly city-run) and some off-the-beaten-path rural train lines.

It’s glorious freedom, a huge money saver, and hassle saver too since you just show your pass to the station attendant and they’ll let you through the wickets; very VIP treatment. You only ever need to line up to reserve a seat, which is a good idea for long trips or during busy hours, but in many cases you’ll have no problem finding an open seat even on the bullet trains.

Not convinced yet? Here’s some math: the JR pass costs approximately $550 for 3 weeks. If you go round-trip from Tokyo to Osaka twice, you’ve basically gotten your investment back.

Here’s the link to get you started: http://www.japanrailpass.net/eng/en003.html

Save on Food and Drink

Food might be the thing people underestimate the most when they plan their travel expenses for any country. This is especially true with Japan because everything is so goddamn delicious. Here’s some tips that I came up with to keep my food budget down, which served me well when I was actually living there but could also help out a tight-budgeted traveler:

1. Buy a jar of Nescafe instant coffee for your mornings. A typical Japanese mom-and-pop cafe charges $2-3 for a cup of coffee (it comes in one size: small) and you won’t get refills. And get it at a supermarket if you can, not a convenience store; the prices are usually very different.
2. Supermarket bento (boxed meals) are a great deal, and most supermarkets start discounting their bento 20-50% after a certain time, usually 7 or 8 o’clock at night. Find your nearest supermarket and figure out how to take advantage of this.
3. Onigiri (rice balls, usually with some kind of filling) are delicious, cheap and satisfying. The ones you get at convenience stores aren’t bad, but keep an eye out for an actual onigiri shop. A real onigiri is twice as large and three times as delicious as a convenience-store knockoff, and still usually costs less than 200 yen.
4. Inari sushi. If you have tried them in the US and didn’t like them, I urge you to try them again in Japan. Like onigiri, these are a low cost way to fill your stomach and can be addictively delicious if they’re made well (in Japan, they usually are).
5. Japanese instant noodles are on a whole different level compared to the garbage they peddle to us in the US. It’s almost insulting. Buy a Nissin noodle cup, try it, and cry uncontrollably when you discover just how delicious your college years could have been but weren’t.

Bring Back Stuff to Sell

Put your spare suitcase space to good use! Traveling to Japan means you get to bring some stuff back without paying for shipping. You have to do some research and shopping around, but it’s very possible to do things like buy a Nintendo 3DS in Japan for $100, bring it back and sell it on eBay for $150 (the 3DS is easy to sell because it is region-locked, so gamers need an imported one in order to play Japanese games). Japanese PS3/PS4 games are good for the opposite reason (because the hardware is NOT region-locked, the games can be played normally even on non-Japanese hardware).

Of course if you come home with 10 of the same device or game in your suitcase, there’s a chance that customs will look upon that suspiciously, so don’t overdo it. lol

Do you have any money tips for traveling in Japan? If so, feel free to leave a comment! ^^