JRA | 3 KEEP ON RUNNINGThe spring Tokyo Yushun (Japa-nese Derby) and the year-end Ari-ma Kinen (The Grand Prix) have traditionally been recognized by the Japanese public as big national events. To maintain the lofty status of these two premiere events, JRA conducts annual promotions near major train stations and other urban centers, mainly in Tokyo and Osaka. The promotions include billboards and appearances by not only celeb-rities but also highly realistic robotic horses, who actually give the celeb-rities a run for their money in terms of drawing attention and appearing in viral social-media posts. Also, in partnership with leading breweries prior to the annual holding of each race, a limited-edition canned beer bearing the likeness of the previous champion is launched for the enjoy-ment of racing fans and beer lovers alike. Prior to this year’s Arima Kinen, for example, 2020 champion Chrono Genesis will appear on cans sold nationwide from November. The Ari-ma Kinen, which typically generates more betting than any other JRA Grade 1 races, is so popular that its barrier draw has been televised live since 2014. Fans select the eld’s rst 10 entries by popular vote, a unique system that has given the general public a strong sense of participation in the Arima Kinen, helping the race to maintain its nationwide reputation as a major event.JRA’s “Umabi” website conducts pro-motions targeting young adults in col-laboration with the producers of man-ga, anime, digital games and snacks popular with this target sector. The promotions enable JRA to introduce the excitement of racing from appeal-ing perspectives and to disseminate information via social media. For the 2021 Japanese Derby, JRA collabo-rated with Umai-bo (literally “delicious stick”), a popular stick-shaped snack, to take advantage of the catchy similarity between the words umai (“delicious”) and uma (“horse”). In a web-based drawing competition that became a huge hit, lucky winners were presented exclusive Umai-bo dispensers and product packages, both decorated with horse motifs. In addition, anime clips and Umai-bo topics were distributed daily on the website and received rave reviews.JRA, in an effort to expand interest in horse racing throughout society, set its sights on younger females who are unfamiliar with the sport, or so-called UMAJO (“uma” for horse and “jo” for lady). JRA launched the UMAJO Project in 2012 to appeal to female interests and sensibilities when enjoying horse racing. Racing venues open UMAJO SPOTs to offer female customers drinks and sweets and UMAJO Concierges are stationed to assist inexperienced female fans in placing wagers. Also, carefully designed UMAJO souvenirs and goods are marketed. In addition, racecourses offer female fans tours and even workshops to provide ideas on how females could enhance their enjoyment of the sport. As a result of such initiatives, female attendance began to increase from 14.0% in 2012 to 17.4% in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic forced UMAJO SPOTs at race-courses to be suspended.UMAJO PROJECT ATTRACTS NEW FEMALE FANSSPOTLIGHTING THE JAPANESE DERBY AND THE ARIMA KINENWEB PROMOTIONS TARGETING YOUNGER FANSJRA PROMOTIONSUMAJO SPOTsRobotic horseLimited-edition canned beer for Arima KinenPromotion in collaboration with popular digital game “Momotaro Dentetsu”Arima Kinen’s barrier draw televised livePromotion in collaboration with popular snack “Umai-bo”
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