JRA, NAR... WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
With no 'translation team' around again, I was trying to figure out what I could write about Japanese racing with material either coming from within my head (not much in there!), or being easy to research. Luckily, I'd done some useful work already for a book proposal, and the thing that springs to mind should help visitors to the blog from abroad put things into perspective - today, we'll look at what's behind the JRA and NAR initials...

Horse racing has been around in Japan for 150 years now, but in the early days, it was largely the British contingent living in Yokohama that was responsible for the meetings. The sport flourished during the Meiji Era, and had already become quite professional by the turn of the century. In 1923, 11 clubs were formed to handle racing, which duly came under the control of the Imperial Racing Society. This, in turn, was merged with the new Japan Racing Society in 1936, bringing about the birth of modern Japanese horse racing.

Naturally, the war threw the racing world into disarray, but a batch of new laws passed in 1954 led to the formation of the JRA (Japan Racing Association), established as a new controlling body, continually investing profits from gambling to further improve the sport and the numerous JRA facilities spread throughout the country.

Interestingly, racing conducted by local government bodies was left largely to its own devices. However, new legislation passed in 1962 led to the creation of the NAR (National Association of Racing), allowing all local government events to be run under the same rules, with a nationwide standard set on all manner of things, from those allowed to qualify for trainer and jockey licences, through to the registration of owners.

The Sapporo and Chukyo tracks are shared with the JRA, although there are no less than 17 racecourses run solely by the NAR, namely Tokyo-Oi, Funabashi, Kawasaki, Urawa, Nagoya, Kochi, Saga, Sonoda, Himeji, Morioka, Mizusawa, Kanazawa, Kasamatsu, Obihiro, Mombetsu, Arao and Fukuyama.

Sadly, the future of the Fukuyama facility is in doubt, and support is needed at all the local tracks to stop others going the same way. It's time people started to realize that horse racing is a fun day out, full of special characters, and not just about betting. If you've never been to a racecourse before, try it! With JRA racing at weekends and NAR events usually scheduled for weekdays, there's no excuse for not being able to go...