By Ken Y-N ( September 18, 2009 at 00:37)
· Filed under Entertainment, Polls, Society
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Although when I lived in Ayr I used to go to their racecourse, I’ve felt absolutely zero interesting in racecourses in Japan, the subject of a recent survey from iShare.
Demographics
Between the 21st and 26th of August 2009 545 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private online questionnaire. 52.3% of the sample were male, 34.1% in their twenties, 33.0% in their thirties, and 32.8% in their forties.
The horses is one of the few things that one in Japan can legally gamble on. Rather than lots of small betting shops like there is in the UK, instead there are massive gambling halls where everyone gathers to (presumably, as I’ve never been inside) watch satellite broadcasts of the races and bet.
Despite TV adverts portraying horse racing as hip and happening I see mostly middle-aged men shuffling in and out of the bookies and the racetracks.
Research results
Q1: Do you like horses? (Sample size=545)
| |
All |
Male
N=285 |
Female
N=260 |
| Love them |
8.4% |
7.7% |
9.2% |
| Like them |
38.5% |
37.5% |
39.6% |
| Dislike them |
20.0% |
20.0% |
20.0% |
| Hate them |
33.0% |
34.7% |
31.2% |
Q2: Do you like horse racing? (Sample size=545)
| |
All |
Male
N=285 |
Female
N=260 |
| Love it |
4.6% |
4.9% |
4.2% |
| Like it |
20.7% |
21.4% |
20.0% |
| Dislike it |
22.4% |
21.8% |
23.1% |
| Hate it |
52.3% |
51.9% |
52.7% |
Q3: Which of the following is closest to your image of horse racetracks? (Sample size=545)
| |
All |
Male
N=285 |
Female
N=260 |
| Noisy |
53.4% |
49.1% |
58.1% |
| Lively |
18.2% |
20.7% |
15.4% |
| Dark atmosphere |
8.3% |
10.5% |
5.8% |
| Open |
5.1% |
6.0% |
4.2% |
| Closed |
4.6% |
4.2% |
5.0% |
| Bright atmosphere |
1.8% |
1.8% |
1.9% |
| Other |
8.6% |
7.7% |
9.6% |
Q4: Have you ever gone to the races? (Sample size=545)
| |
All |
Male
N=285 |
Female
N=260 |
| Yes |
33.8% |
37.2% |
30.0% |
| No |
66.2% |
62.8% |
70.0% |
Q5: Which of the following facilities were you unaware of being available at racecourses? (Sample size=545, multiple answer)
| |
All |
Male
N=285 |
Female
N=260 |
| Creche |
82.7% |
79.9% |
85.4% |
| Shopping mall |
79.5% |
79.9% |
79.2% |
| Walking course |
63.6% |
64.1% |
63.0% |
| Horse contact area |
57.2% |
54.9% |
59.4% |
| Park |
56.6% |
52.2% |
60.9% |
| Cafeteria |
28.2% |
24.5% |
31.8% |
| Restaurant |
25.0% |
20.1% |
29.7% |
| Indoor viewing stand |
14.4% |
16.8% |
12.0% |
| Knew about all of them |
31.0% |
35.4% |
26.2% |
Read more on: club bbq,
gambling,
horse,
ishare
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Ayr, Musselburgh, Hamilton Park… race courses I have known and hated. My dad is a massive fan, I used to get dragged around them all as a kid.
I’ve been to Hanshin Racecourse near Osaka and it was amazing! Only 200 Yen to get it and you could see the horses in the parade ring and go in all the stands for that price. It’s costs 15 times that much to do the same on a British racecourse. The facilities were brilliant and the atmosphere very friendly. Officials at British courses make you feel they’re doing you a favour taking your money off you! Of course the bookmakers take most of the cash from British racing but Japan has the Tote so most betting money is re-invested in better facilities. I’m a sports fan rather than an avid racing fan but I’d recommend a trip to the races in Japan.
Believe me, racing spot near Tokyo Dome looks much worse than you’d expect. Crowd, noisy, unfriendly ppl who actually were afraid of being caught in a picture so much that they hidden their faces or turned quickly away from camera. Place also looked poor; dirt and tone of used paper racing tickets all over the place.