Have I discovered a power spot? #LetsMeetAtTheRacecourse

The forty-ninth day memorial for my mother-in-law has passed, but on my days off, I still drink my morning coffee in front of her altar. When I talk to her, strangely enough, she seems to be smiling in her photograph.
I am Yasaburo Tanaka. I work as an acupuncturist and massage therapist.

Wanting to go someday → Let's go now

That is why I changed my work schedule

Since last autumn, my working hours have changed, and I have finally been able to make a little time for myself.
After all, there is no point in just working and consuming when I have finally joined my life with my wife.

Thanks to that, I was able to spend time on my mother-in-law's memorial services, and even though my income has decreased in one way or another, I am somehow managing to make ends meet.

Now that the memorial services have settled down, I went out for a little break.

I want to go to the racecourse someday

From time to time, my wife talks about her late father.
He was self-employed and busy every day, but she remembers the times they went out together on his rare days off.

"I went to the racecourse just once. The horses were so beautiful and it was fun. I hope I can go again someday."

Neither my wife nor I have any interest in gambling, but we like animals in general.I hear that the sight of thoroughbreds running is beautifuland I had wanted to see it in person at least once.

Besides, I had read such a wonderful article the other day, and I had even commented that I wanted to go.

When I checked the JRA website, I saw that there was a GII race at Hanshin Racecourse.
Seeing this as a good opportunity, I bought reserved seats.

I booked reserved seats without knowing anything

Car or train? It's decided, the train.

Although I bought the tickets on impulse, I didn't know the exact location or how to get there.
I had thought about going by car, but I heard that the parking lot fills up before the gates open at 9:00 AM. I can't wake up that early, so we decided on the train.

The Hankyu train ride after such a long time feels fresh. The atmosphere of the passengers is different, and above all, the hanging advertisements are different.
The Takarazuka Revue advertisement appealed to me with full eye power.
It reminded me of when I was invited by my wife's friend to see a Takarazuka performance. I have to go to the Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum someday, too.

I transferred at Nishinomiya-kitaguchi Station and arrived at Nigawa Station.
I locked onto a young man in the seat next to me on the train who was watching a horse racing video. I can't go wrong if I follow this person (laughs).

In reality, there was a direct underground passage from the station to Hanshin Racecourse, a safe design where it was impossible to get lost.

As I walked while looking at the photos of legendary horses, my excitement grew.
This is nice, this atmosphere.
If I had come by car, I wouldn't have been able to experience this.
Off to the world of the extraordinary, let's go!

Admission via QR code. Just in time for the start of the 5th race

I showed my QR code to enter, and went to the restroom first.
It was before noon, so I thought I'd grab a bite to eat, but then came the announcement that the 5th race was about to start.
I hadn't placed any bets and didn't even know how many horses were running, but I rushed to the window and watched the race.

Amazing! The horses are running!
I can't come up with any other impression than that, but it's real, and the excitement of watching it live is irresistible.
The finish happened in the blink of an eye, and voices of joy and sorrow could be heard from here and there.
My feelings couldn't keep up with the rapid shift between tension and relief.
For now, I ordered two portions of the katsu curry that caught my eye, wolfed it down, and headed to our reserved seats on the 4th floor.

I decided to book some pretty nice seats

Watching from Seat A. What a great seat.

Since I went to the trouble of coming, I booked a seat with a good view of the finish line. It was incredibly comfortable, with plenty of room to sit and a monitor at every seat.
And above all, the entire facility is super clean.
There were more than enough staff members on duty, so I assume the business is doing well.

I've heard stories about places that receive subsidies but aren't managed well, so I was impressed by how amazing this was.

With the next race time approaching, I rushed to go see the paddock.
Of course, I don't know a thing, but I just had the urge to see it!

Watching the horses walking around the paddock, I couldn't help but notice their gait and muscle movement. Before I knew it, I hadn't even really looked at their faces.

It's busy, and it's far...

I started participating by buying betting tickets from the 6th race.
When I chose horses that caught my eye in the paddock, they were all horses with surprisingly high odds (lol).
And as expected, they rarely got involved in the win.
Well, it's just a guess, so I suppose that's how it goes.

Pick out horses that catch your eye and buy tickets
↓
Watch the race, wait for the results to be confirmed
↓
Go to the paddock to prepare for the next race

I kept repeating this, but my seat was on the 4th floor and the paddock was on the 1st floor.
You can see it from the 2nd floor, so I did that, but going back and forth is tough.
Once might be fine, but if you do it every time, you don't have any time to sit down.

My wife was relaxing comfortably in her seat, happy with a highball in hand. This is the proper way to watch from a reserved seat.

Watching from the 6th to the 11th race

I thought it would be more laid back

Watching the horses go around the paddock, time flew by. Or rather, I was just watching the horses and ended up buying tickets randomly without even being able to choose which ones to bet on.
Reluctantly, I tried buying a horse with lower odds, and I actually won in the 9th and 10th races.
Yeah, I really don't have an eye for horses.

But it really is fun to watch the horses.
Fun isn't even a strong enough word.

The atmosphere when they walk around the paddock and when they wait just before the start. The contrast between the tension and the relaxation from the gate-in to the start, and then rounding the corner to dash to the finish line—I never knew it was this exciting.

Everything is worth experiencing, and live events are definitely fun.

My wife, feeling like a princess with her highball in hand,

We planned to leave after the main 11th race, so we decided to go down to the 1st floor to watch the 11th race from in front of the finish line.

Being the main race, there was quite a crowd before the start. The gray horse that had been running in the lead from the middle of the pack managed to hold on and win!
The winner was the 11th favorite, Edoboupre.
In front of the finish line, you could hear voices from the crowd shouting,
“Not you, get out of the way!” and it was incredibly exciting.

And as for my wife, who was in a great mood after drinking nicely,
she won every single bet from the 6th to the 11th race

Of course, she wasn't betting on just one horse, and the amounts weren't huge, but to win every single one...

Like when she won on the last ticket she bought,
or when she bought the wrong one and it actually won,
she was the only one cheering with her hands up in front of the finish line at the main race.
Her winning was just luck, but more than anything, seeing her have this much fun made me glad I brought her.

What I felt after going there

No stress from the station to the way home

I knew about win bets, quinellas, and bracket quinellas, but I don't really understand place bets or wide bets.
Even with just that level of knowledge, I had a blast.
Starting with the dedicated walkway from the station, the clean facilities, the sufficient number of staff, and the ability to easily buy tickets on my smartphone with Soku-PAT, it was incredibly comfortable.

Perhaps the reason they are able to provide such high-quality service is because their business is healthy and they are managing their money well.

I'd like to invite my parents too

It was so much fun that my wife and I have been talking about going again, and also visiting Kyoto Racecourse.
And I'm thinking of inviting my parents as well.

Neither of my parents gambles, though my father dabbles in stocks with shareholder perks. However, they both love animals.
My father grew up in the countryside, so he has been around chickens, cows, and horses since he was a child.
My mother dabbled in the equestrian club (show jumping) at university.

Because of parents like that, I love animals too.
I could smell the horses in the paddock, and I can't even describe how excited I got.

After all, the sight of horses running is cool and beautiful.
I think they would really enjoy it.
They aren't the type to pour money in without limit, so I hope it can become something like a hobby for them.

No foreign visitors

These days, you see foreign visitors everywhere you go, but I don't think I saw any at the racecourse.

With service of this high quality, I really hope they can get wealthy foreign visitors involved and have them spend some money.
If they provided interpreters and concierges in the VIP seats, they could enjoy it right away. They just need to charge fees that match the service.

The concern is the risk of crime.
When I googled [foreigner, horse racing, tax evasion], I found this article.

Foreigners can buy betting tickets as long as they are 20 or older, so I think it would be popular.
I'd like them to play casually, pay any taxes that arise, and enjoy themselves with good manners.

Maybe there are already plenty of wealthy foreign visitors in the VIP seats and I just haven't noticed?
If any VIPs out there know, please let me know.

Was my wife's win thanks to a power spot?

Actually, there is a reason (a superstition?) for why my wife was able to win. It's about my mother-in-law who passed away in January.

On weekend mornings, I offer tea and rice and light incense, and that's when I consulted with the Buddhist altar.

As a result of the consultation (lol), our top pick was decided as number 4. The reason is that my mother-in-law's nickname was 'Shi-chan'.

If my mother-in-law were still alive, she would probably say something like,
'I don't know, so number 4!!'

And that number 4 won the main race.
Even though it was the 11th favorite, it led the whole way and finished 1st.

I made sure to ask the altar to have her earn the money for the memorial service fee in this fashion (lol).
My father-in-law was also the type who would try hard and win when money was involved.
Maybe she was watching over us.

This has become long, but thank you for reading. And I would also like to thank Jise-oji GAMI-san for giving me the opportunity.
Finally, here is that commercial.

The songs are by Kiyoshiro Imawano, Mariko Nagai, Masato Tomobe, and Yukihiro Takahashi (titles omitted). Every commercial and song has a great vibe.