Day 77: Bike Race

This is something that was completely new to me – Keirin Racing in Japan. Adam loves the sport and had been wanting to check it out for ages so we headed out with our friend/unofficial Japan tour guide So for an afternoon filled with lycra, old men in caps and confusing gambling sheets.

First thing's first... What is Keirin?

Keirin is a bike race that originated in Japan where racers ride around a track behind someone on a bike that sets the pace for a few laps. Once they've done a few laps, the pacer leaves the track and then the real race starts. They go super fast and there is an incline in the track so they can use that to go even faster and because they are so close to each other there is a high chance of crashes which are pretty brutal to watch. Did I explain that okay? Probably not. If you want to know more, check this out.

So and Adam getting orientated at the Keirin track out in Tachikawa (it's about 50 minutes from Shinjuku and costs 50 yen to enter). It was a cold Tuesday afternoon and the place was filled with old Japanese men holding gambling sheets. What I found odd was that not many people actually watched the race IRL, they would watch it on TVs inside. 

Keirin is one of the few places in Japan where you can legally gamble.

So and Adam trying to work out how to bet. 

See... Not many people actually watch the race.

I made a bet... And I won!!! Well, I only bet ¥100 and I won ¥210. Dinner's on me, guys.

Race day is done. Following the old boys to the station.

After the race, So took us to this giant gyoza restaurant called New Gyoza 1059 famous for their giant gyozas. I didn't know what to expect but daaaamn the gyozas were big and you could choose a variety of fillings including oysters and cheese (!!!).

We ordered three plates of gyoza and opted for the corn, crab and mushroom versions. As a lover of corn, the corn gyoza was my favourite and we were so full after these mega-dumplings.

Strangely not tired, we ventured to Nakano – a cute suburb not too far from Shinjuku which has a lot of small bars and restaurants.

We went to this tiny little bar in one of the side streets which seated only about seven people at a time.

Keirin krew has a hard earned thirst.

After we had a drink at this tiny little bar, So wanted to take us to this restaurant which does smoked edamame.

There were no seats in the restaurant but the owner of the soba restaurant next door had sold out of soba so let us sit in his restaurant even though we weren't eating his food. 

Sadly the restaurant had sold out of this mysterious smoked edamame so we ordered a few other dishes. The owner felt bad that he'd ran out of edamame but somehow managed to find a few leftover edamame to let us try them. By this point we were full and sleepy so it was time to call it a day.

Heading back to the station through the streets of Nakano. I like it around this area.