Boat Racing in Japan

June 19th was an interesting day. Even though it is the rainy season here in Japan, there was no rain in sight in the morning. It was still very hot and humid, with temperatures forecast to be around 30 degrees plus humidity. The weather was also partly cloudy and no rain was forecast for the rest of the day.

Looking for something to do in order not to get bored, and use the good weather, we decided to go out to the races. We had read about the boat races and a racetrack in neighbouring Toda City and decided we would check them out. Originally we decided to head out there by train and then shuttle bus, but we changed our minds after looking at the sky. We decided to ride our bikes to the track instead to save the train fare and get a little more exercise. Once we found our destination on the map and figured out a route, we were on our way.

This was about 10:30 am.

Just after 11:30 am we pulled into the grandstands of the Toda Kyotei (or Toda Motorboat Racecourse). This was a much longer ride than we imagined.

What an interesting experience. Imagine a special canal split off from the main river that is about 107.5 metres wide and about 450 metres long. The boats race 3 laps after a flying start and there is gambling allowed on the races.

The large screens shows the odds for the races and driver information. As we had no idea how to read this information, and we were interested in placing a bet for fun, we had to ask at the information desk how to do so. Once we learned how to do it, we waited for the next race to decide which boat(s) to pick. Turns out the next race to bet on was race number 5 (out of 12 scheduled). The following picture is of our betting slip (I chose the first line of Boat 3 to win and Boat 4 to place second; Kazumi chose the second line of Boat 3 to win and Boat 6 to place second).

Well, we were half right. Turns out in this race, Boat 3 did end up winning, but neither Boat 4 (placed 5 out of 6) or Boat 6 (placed 4 out of 6) came close to winning.

We finally arrived home at around 4:30 pm after watching 3 races and stopping along the way for a late lunch. Still, we had a fun time and slept well after our long bike ride.