‘KEIRIN’ – a cycling track race event that takes place in the Olympics. It’s one of the international sport events now but is originated in Japan. In this series, we’re going to introduce Japanese ‘KEIRIN’ and its surrounding environment.
The theme this time is ‘How to watch a race and how to bet it’
What sort of place a velodrome is? / All about “KEIRIN” series 3
Let’s watch a race at velodromes, or on the internet
Keirin races are streamed for free on KEIRIN.jp, a website directed by JKA (Japan Keirin Autorace foundation), the headquarters of keirin. You can also see the summarised footage of the past races on the website. (No English available)
Otherwise, most velodromes have their own YouTube or Niconico Douga channels, so it’s also possible to see a livestream of any race you want on either of those channels.
And if you have a chance to come to Japan, please visit a velodrome to watch a race at the actual site. You need to check the event information in advance, but there are 43 velodromes all over the country, so it wouldn’t be so difficult to access to a site wherever in Japan you are.
How do we bet?
You can buy race tickets on the internet but it’d be too difficult for you if you lived overseas. The reason is because ‘If you want to buy a ticket, you need to have a specified deposit account’. And most banks only allow you to open an account if you have a Japanese passport or you live in Japan.
If you have one of those specified bank accounts, all you have to do is to go to a ticket site, sign up for it, then you can buy a ticket online.
But if you buy a ticket at a velodrome, that’s another thing. At velodromes, you can easily buy a ticket just like you buy a boarding ticket at a train station.
Now, let’s watch a race at a velodrome!
