Alongside pachinko and keirin (competitive cycling), horse racing is the other primary activity in the triumvirate of legalized gambling in Japan.
Despite declining popularity in other countries, horse racing is thriving here. In 2025 alone, tracks managed by the Japan Racing Association (JRA) raked in ?3.5 trillion (about $21.5 billion) on central circuits and an additional ?1.15 trillion across smaller regional and local tracks. What draws high rollers and casual spectators to the JRA¡¯s almost 300 days of official races? The 8,959 active registered racehorses, from 2-year-old yearlings to 6-year-old mares, stallions and geldings.
As in many sports, if a horse doesn¡¯t produce success on the track, its racing career can be short-lived. Hiroko Kawaguchi, equestrian instructor and horse handler, explains that if a horse hasn¡¯t won a race by the summer of its third year, it¡¯s often transferred to a regional circuit, forced to switch its specialization to another type of race or simply retired. Some become breeding stock, but most are culled for eventual processing into meat for human or animal consumption.
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