Tokyo City Keiba Horse Racing August ?

Hiya,

I really want to go to a Tokyo City Keiba race, preferably a 'Twinkle' (Twilight Race). Thing is, I can't understand when the races are - there's some info on the site, and it seems to suggest that the Funbashi track in Chiba is active rather than the Keiba one.

I'm going from August 1st-10th, so there's plenty of opportunity, I just hope there're some races. Could someone shed some light. Here's the best info I can find: http://209.85.229.132/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sl=ja&...

Unfortunately, there will be no race at the Tokyo City Keiba during the week you're staying in Japan. But twilight races will be held at the Funabashi Keiba and the Urawa Keiba (Saitama) on Aug. 3-4 and Aug. 5-7, respectively.

You can see the race schedule here though it's only in Japanese:
http://www.nankankeiba.com/calendar/000000.do

Clicking "船橋" on Aug. (8月) 3/4 takes you to the timetables of the races. The ones for the races at Urawa have not yet been posted.

If there's no racing that week then what goes on there...?

Also, what about dog racing? Or is that just not native to Japan?

The closer to Tokyo central the better. Many thanks.

Nothing.
The four keiba tracks in the South Kanto area including Tokyo City, Urawa, Funabashi are allied each other (the website I referred to is actually run by them) and races to be held at the four tracks are staggered not to coincide with.

There is and has ever been no authorized dog racing in Japan.

Interesting... I'll have to see how far away the other tracks are and whether it's feasible to travel.

I wondered if perhaps the tracks were used for other ad hoc events between racing weeks.

I find the difference in gambling laws from country to country rather fascinating. Take it for granted that so many casinos and races take place in the UK - but I never really go to any... only tend to dabble when on holiday and feel like there's some cash to plump around.

As to how far away, or rather adjacent, from Tokyo, there is not much difference between the Funabashi track and the Urawa track. To go to the nearest station to either of them, it takes about half an hour from the Tokyo Station by train.

The following is the route to each track if starting from the Tokyo Station:

[Funabashi Keiba] Go to the Minami-Funabashi Station on the JR Keiyo Line and then 10 minutes' walk to the track.

[Urawa Keiba] Go to the Minami-Urawa Station on the JR Keihin-Tohoku Line and then 15 minutes' walk or a free shuttle bus ride to the track. The bus station named 'Urawa Keiba Fan Bus' is close to the East Exit of the Minami-Urawa Station.

Yeah, the gambling law in Japan would be rather stricter than the counterpart in the UK, like no casinos, no dog racing. Instead, lots of people are getting into 'pachinko' here!