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.

What’s special about Amanohashidate?

The main attraction is of course that long, straight sandbar that stretches straight across the bay. You’ll want to check out the view from Kasamatsu Park, which is the scenic point on the end opposite from where the train station is; the view is the one you see most often on post cards, pamphlets and such, and getting there is half the fun.

But it’s the plus-alpha elements that really sold me on Amanohashidate. First of all, it’s not overcrowded. I suppose that’s the upside of a location that’s a little hard to access. So many tourist spots around Japan are so extremely dense, lines are long and you just feel rushed. You’re by no means alone in Amanohashidate, but you can explore at your own pace and really have room to breathe.

There’s a bunch of fun little things to see and do as you tour the area, too. I highly recommend renting a bicycle for the day to get across and back. The ski-lift-style ride up to and down from the overlook is tranquil and adorable, and at the top there’s a hoop that people try to throw clay discs through, great for children and inner children alike. (but I’ll warn you it’s much more difficult than it looks)

It’s interesting to watch all the people bending over to see the view upside-down; supposedly looking at it this way makes it seem like the peninsula is ascending through the sky to heaven. Sure, you could just turn a post-card upside down, but where’s the fun in that?

Of course there are cute tourist shops too. Preserved porcupine fish seem to be a popular souvenir. And there’s a shop that specializes in Japanese (grape) wine, which you don’t usually see a lot of even in Japan. Naturally, there’s nice temple (Chionji) before you cross and a nice shrine (Kono) on the far side which keep the traditional Japanese travel atmosphere alive.

Getting there and back

If you’re starting from Kyoto/Osaka or even Nagoya (provided you take the shinkansen to Kyoto), you can do Amanohashidate as a day trip, but if your base of operations is in Tokyo, you’d better make it an overnighter. Day-trippers should also be advised against trying to walk the sandbar; definitely go for the bicycle.

The 2-hour-long somewhat scenic train ride starts from Kyoto station. If you buy your tickets normally (don’t have a JR pass), there isn’t a problem. But if you’re traveling with a JR pass, note that it only gets you as far as Fukuchiyama station, after which you’ll need 1520 yen each way (but you won’t need to change trains, just pay the attendant that comes through the cabin).

Trains to Amanohashidate leave about once every hour before noon, so no problem there. However, be sure to get a reserved seat ticket and make it clear you’re going to Amanohashidate. Why? The train will split at Ayabe station, and you need to be on the correct train car.

On your return, the train you want is the JR Limited Express Hashidate #10 (JR特急はしだて１０号), which departs Amanohashidate at 18:46. That link is in Japanese but isn’t too hard to figure out, “天橋立” (the top of the station list) is Amanohashidate and “京都” (Kyoto) is at the bottom.

If you miss that train, your route back to Kyoto becomes much more confusing, so don’t. Note that this schedule might have changed by the time your read this article, so be sure to double-check before you go.

After leaving the station, it’s about a 3-minute walk to the sightseeing zone. You need to go right for a short distance and then make a 135° left turn, where you’ll enter a nice pedestrian street with touristy shops and restaurants (you’ll want to rent your bicycle from somewhere around here). There’s a map at the bottom of this post to help you figure it all out. Most of the other people who got off the train with you will be headed that direction too.

Tips for visiting Amanohashidate

• Don’t plan too far in advance. Good weather is a requirement for enjoying Amanohashidate. If they’re forecasting rain, cut your losses and try again another time.
• In warm weather seasons, consider bringing a swimsuit!
• There’s a small onsen (public bath house/hot spring) facility right next to the station that’s great for washing off sweat and/or salt water after a day of play or just killing some time and relaxing while you wait for your train. And if you ask, the station attendants will give you a coupon for a small discount at the onsen.
• There’s two major scenic points to view the sandbar from, one (Mt. Moju) is on the same side as the station, but the one I recommend (Kasamatsu Park) is on the opposite side of the bay. The view isn’t necessarily any better, but getting there is so much fun!
• Find a place that rents bicycles for all-day (終日: shuujitsu) use, many of the rentals are for 2.5 or 3 hours, which is enough time if you know what you’re doing but not quite enough to really relax and explore. I rented my all-day bicycle from the wine shop for about 500 yen (sorry, I don’t remember the exact price). There was no id check or paperwork or anything, and it’s easy enough to find an appropriate place to park your bike before going up the lift on the other side. I left mine with a bunch of other bicycles at the entrance to Kono shrine.
• Bring a bento (buy it in Kyoto)! You’ll probably arrive right around lunchtime and are unlikely to come across any better location or opportunity for a picnic anywhere in Japan. The sandbar is a park and there are tables and seating to use as you walk or bike across. Or you can just set up wherever you like on the grass or sand. And yes, there are even garbage cans! (if you’re in Japan or have ever been, you know finding a receptacle can be a nightmare)
• After going up on the lift (I only recommend the cable car if you can’t lift your feet, since you need to do this at a couple points on the ascent), you can optionally hike up further or take a bus to Kasamatsu Temple. I skipped the temple, but am told it’s quite a hike; unless you’ve got a room in town for the night you’re probably better off with the bus.

Map

Click to enlarge.

The leading whisky producer in Japan is Suntory, which operates two distilleries: Yamazaki (山崎: the oldest distillery in Japan) and Hakushu (白州). The former is located in Osaka prefecture, an easy train ride from either Osaka or Kyoto, and the latter is located in Yamanashi prefecture, a considerably more remote and rural location.

Yamazaki

Yamazaki is Suntory’s flagship whisky, which is widely available in Japan everywhere from izakayas to convenience stores. The Yamazaki distillery has access to some of the best water in Japan and utilizes 12 stills (six for the first distilling and six for the second), each with a different design; this is a large number compared to most Scottish distilleries and means they can produce many different variations of “new make” (the colorless spirit that goes into casks for aging).

Like most other distilleries, imported oak casks which were previously used once to age bourbon are used to mature most of the whisky, but Yamazaki also utilizes exotic casks including sherry, Japanese oak (mizunara) and umeshu (plum liquor) casks. The latter is used to age whisky found in my personal favorite: Hibiki (a blended whisky).

Other producers in Japan

Nikka is another company that makes some excellent Japanese whisky, notably Yoichi (余市) and Taketsuru (竹鶴: named after the company’s founder and one of the original Japanese whisky masters). Nikka has two distilleries; one in Sendai and another in Hokkaido. They are exclusively a whisky company, whereas Suntory is diversified into all kinds of beverages.

Kirin produces a whisky called Fuji Sanroku (富士山麓), the distillery being located at the foot of Mt. Fuji.

In addition, there are a number of other smaller, local distilleries around Japan, but the lion’s share of the market is dominated by the brands mentioned in this blog (especially Suntory).

Touring a Japanese distillery

As a fan of Suntory’s lineup, I recently traveled out to Yamazaki to take a tour of their facilities. It’s a quick and easy train ride from either Osaka or Kyoto and about a 5-7 minute walk from the station. Although a good understanding of Japanese will make the tour much more informative, the distillery does offer English-language accommodation in the form of a headset with numbered recordings and an English pamphlet.

There is a free guided tour which is available daily throughout the year. At the end, you get to sample some of the regular Yamazaki single malt (not the premium aged stuff). If you go through the Japanese-language site, you’ll find various seminars that are offered throughout the year. These seminars offer additional content and usually a wider variety for the tasting portion, but expect to pay a bit for these (about 1500 yen).

If all you want to do is try some of Suntory’s fine whiskys, you don’t need a tour or seminar. Just head to the gift shop and you’ll find a tasting counter where you can order a 15ml splash of anything they offer. Prices mostly range from 100 to 500 yen for a tasting, but some of the high end whiskys go up to 2400 yen (Yamazaki/Hakushu 25-year, Hibiki-30 year). You can also taste a wide selection of non-Suntory brands like Macallan and Glenfiddich, even Canadian whiskys and American Bourbon.

Getting Japanese Whisky Outside of Japan

The difficulty of obtaining Japanese whisky outside of Japan is a problem I pray will be resolved soon. Last December, I was overjoyed to see Hibiki 12-year at my local CostCo, but it has since disappeared.

Perhaps that will soon change. Japanese whisky has been featured recently on TV news and business programs, and last year Suntory purchased Jim Beam, which could expand their options for international distribution.

On a side note…

Booze in Japan is uber-cheap! I’m talking half-price or less of what you would pay in the US. Check out these numbers!!! (Note that the standard bottle size in Japan is 700ml, which is a shot smaller than the 750ml bottles which probably populate your local liquor store)

You want a bottle of black label? That’ll be $20. Gold label? 45 bucks! …somebody pinch me! Scotch seems to be the best value relative to US prices, but vodka and rum are also very affordable. These pictures were taken at the Nagoya station Bic Camera, which was the cheapest retailer I found. Other locations tended to be 10-15% more expensive.

So remember this: if you’re traveling to Japan, don’t bother picking up any scotch at the airport duty-free shop. You’re almost certainly better off buying it in Japan.

How much duty-free liquor can you take home from Japan?

In the case of the US or Canada, you’re allowed 1.14 liters (= 40 ounces) of spirits. I brought back a 700ml, two 180mls and two 50ml minis for a total of 1.16 liters. Close enough.

For the record, if you’re a beer person you could bring back a 24-pack, or you oenophiles can take 1.5 liters (two regular bottles) of wine. However, you only get to bring one kind of liquor with you; spirits OR beer OR wine.

If you’re in another country and happen to know what the limit is, please leave a comment for others.

Well, that’s all for this post, thanks for reading. And now… 乾杯! (Cheers!)

No, there’s no relationship to maid cafes or anything like that. It’s not even really a place to get a cup of coffee (though they do offer a small selection food and drinks). It’s a “cafe”  more in the sense of an internet cafe and the usage system is almost identical, except instead of a room full of computers you buy time to go into a room full of cats.

Meow, as a cat lover this was purrfectly right up my alley (sorry, but I wanted to get all the puns out of the way early), so I went to check it out one morning.

Everyone gets an introductory tour on their first visit, so I guess that would be a good place for me to start the blog too.

Reception Area (left). Private rooms (right).

Hand-wash area.

This is the first floor. You enter the cat cafe, take off your shoes and put on slippers, then you get your time slip that records when you entered the cafe and whether you asked for any of the hourly package plans (you can get a special deal for 1 or 2 hour blocks). Then, you proceed to the handwash area (so you don’t give your germs to kitty).

Right next to the handwash room are all the private rooms. If you choose to pay for a private room you get to choose your room/cat and you have them all to yourself for as long as you are in the room. Not sure if all that includes a guarantee that the cat will be playful/awake or not…

Anyway, I didn’t elect for a private session so let’s go upstairs toward the play room.

Stairwell (left). Relaxation area for drinking and reading–humans only (right).

The cafe has a really nice atmosphere, that stairwell especially makes you feel like you’re in someone’s house rather than at a business. In fact, I’m pretty sure this place IS a renovated part of the owner’s house.

At last! The playroom (careful, the cats don’t miss a chance to run out the room when you open the door)!

Kitteh!!!

I got here right as the cafe opened, and it looks like some of the staff were just recovering from a hard night of… whatever it is cats do at night.

Yawning (left). Hung over (middle). Sleeping in (right).

早速、「ふれあい」してみましょう！

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnddddd!!!!!

What? Okay, well… here’s more pictures of cats!

Cats in their natural habitat (left). Tom (right).

I was at the cafe for around 50 minutes and payed just under 1000 yen when I left. I didn’t order any drinks or snacks or anything but I did get a soda from the drink bar (which you are required to pay for even if you don’t use).  All in all it was a refreshing and relaxing time and a new experience.

The cats were rather subdued (in all fairness however, cats are almost always very calm) but there was some ball chasing action in the play room. I’m sure the cats would be very excited if you brought them one of the treats which are sold in the ガチャポン (gachapon : coin operated capsule toy machines) outside the play room and downstairs.

Verdict

I will probably go back and may even go for a 2 hour pack! I love cats, and apparently the boy cat team and girl cat team take turns in the play room every hour or so, so if I went back I could see even more adorable little critters. If you love cats, you might enjoy a cat cafe too!

There are actually four cat cafes altogether in Nagoya (see links at the bottom of the post), but judging by the websites I have seen, the one I visited (Neko Manma) seems to be the best put together (I haven’t tried any of the others, so I don’t know for sure though), and it’s in a more residential area so it’s not crowded with people. Their website claims that they are Nagoya’s 最大級 (saidaikyuu) cat cafe, which means the largest.

More pictures

Storefront (left). Cat-related reading materials (middle). The secret cat area (right).

Lolcats!

And now, to fulfill my lifelong dream of authoring my very own lolcats!

Tada!

Neko Manma Cafe

If you’re in Nagoya and you like cats, go check this place out! It’s about a 10 minute walk from Gokiso station (kind of in the Seiyu direction, for those of you who know where that is already). Be sure to check out Neko Manma Cafe’s official website too. Here’s a google map for anyone interested.

View Larger Map

Links to Cat Cafes in Nagoya

• 猫まんま (Neko Manma). Station: 御器所/Gokiso
• なーごなーご (Na-go Na-go). Station: 御器所/Gokiso
• キャットストリート (Cat Street). Station: 栄/Sakae
• 猫のまほう (Neko no Mahou). Station: 伏見/Fushimi