Hokkaido · ObihiroNo.1135★★Open in map →

Banei Tokachi at Obihiro Racecourse

— The world's only draft-horse sled racing

entertainmentOff the trail — and worth it

Horses harnessed to weighted iron sleds work their way along a straight sand lane and over two banked hills. It is the last venue in the world running banei, and the rail is open, so you can walk the whole race alongside the horses.

FromSapporo Station
~2 hr 40 minJR limited express, 11 a day
Get off atObihiro Station (JR Nemuro Main Line)
From there
Banei Tokachi at Obihiro Racecourse

Directions ↗

The sweet spot

This is a well-known fixture inside Japan rather than a hidden one, and it rarely fills up. What thins the crowd is distance, not obscurity: Tokachi sits off the Sapporo–Furano–Hakodate loop that most trips through Hokkaido follow, so few overseas visitors come this far east. The question to settle is the calendar, not the queue.

Where it is

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What to look for — in walking order

The paddockwhere horses are led out before each race, close enough to read the harness and the muscle
The path along the railan open walkway inside the fence where spectators move with the horses from start to finish
The second hillthe steeper of the two banks, about 1.6 metres high, where most races are settled
Museum of Horsesa hall on the grounds covering banei history, harness and the era of the working farm horse
Tokachimuraa row of shops beside the stand selling Tokachi farm produce and local cooking

How to actually get there

Sapporo Station → Obihiro Station (JR limited express Ozora or Tokachi, about 2 hr 40 min).
Obihiro Station → the racecourse (bus from stand 12 at the bus terminal to Obihiro Keibajo-mae, or about a 20-minute walk).
Go to the paddock before the next race, then move to the path along the rail.
Between races, cross to the Museum of Horses and the Tokachimura market row.

JR limited express from Sapporo to Obihiro: Sapporo Station →(JR limited express Ozora or Tokachi, about 2 hr 30 min to 2 hr 50 min)→ Obihiro Station. The JR Hokkaido timetable shows eleven southbound departures a day, spread from early morning to late evening. Hold a seat before the day of travel rather than at the platform.
Return from Obihiro Station: The same line runs back to Sapporo through the afternoon and evening. Floodlit meetings finish late, so settle the return departure before the last race rather than after it. If you want to stay for the whole evening card, a night in Obihiro makes the day work better than a rushed train.

Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

Banei grew out of contests of pulling power between the working horses of Hokkaido's settler farms, and Obihiro is the last place that still races them. The track is not an oval but a straight 200 metres of sand, and each horse is harnessed to a loaded iron sled behind it. Two banked hills stand in the lane, and the second of them is the steeper. The heaviest loads reach a tonne, which is roughly what the horses themselves weigh. Racing runs through the year, and the stand faces straight down the lane rather than across a bend.

How to enjoy it

Meetings are normally held on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays, so the trip is built around the calendar rather than the other way round, and the official site carries the race days and start times. There is a gap between races long enough to walk to the paddock, the museum and the market row and still be back for the next start. Some meetings continue into the evening under floodlights.

Background & history

Horses came to Hokkaido as the labour of settlement, breaking ground and hauling timber for farms across the island. Village contests over which farm horse could pull the most hardened into a formal sport, and the island's horse culture was named a Hokkaido Heritage asset in 2004. Four cities once divided the racing calendar between them; after three withdrew, Obihiro took the whole season on alone from 2007, a decision made possible by racing fans nationwide and by private sponsors.

Before you go

Cash: The official site carries a note on admission to the grounds, listing it as free at the time of checking. Betting windows, food and the market row are all separate. There are 400 parking spaces, and on race days a nearby hospital car park can also be used for a limited stretch of hours.
Good to know: Racing does not run every day of the week, and the calendar has a break between seasons, so check the schedule before anything else. Both the stand and the trackside path are open to the weather, and Tokachi winters are hard and dry — you will be standing still outdoors for long stretches.
Another way: From Tokachi-Obihiro Airport a bus leaves from in front of the terminal building after flights land and runs to the racecourse. Arriving at New Chitose Airport, you can also pick up the same limited express at Minami-Chitose instead of going into Sapporo first.
After you get off: From Obihiro Station walk west through the numbered street grid for about twenty minutes. By bus, leave from stand 12 at the station bus terminal and get off at Obihiro Keibajo-mae, which puts you at the gate. A taxi from the south exit takes under ten minutes.