Me at the Hanshin Racetrack in December 2006. It was my first time to go to a horse race. Have you ever been to the supermarket or department store on a Sunday in Japan, and seen all the wives of all ages - some with kids - and wondered, "Where are their husbands?" I'm pretty sure all of the husbands in Osaka and Kobe were at the Hanshin Racetrack the day I went there.
The place was packed with men. Many of them had newspapers and magazines that listed every stat and every race of every horse that was to race that day, and they were studying them like most high schoolers in the U.S. study for SATs, trying to maximise every bet. Me and my lady, though, being animal lovers, were just there to see the horses themselves. Man, were we out of place.
