No. 33 Feel the Nakagawa Wind (Boat Race Edogawa)

(Published in the July 15, 2014 issue of Koho Inagi)

Do you know the boat racecourse in Edogawa Ward? The official name is Edogawa Racecourse, and it is the only motor boat race course in Japan that uses the first-class river "Nakagawa" that flows through the western part of the ward as the race surface. Inagi City also participates in the operation.
The Edogawa Racecourse was first held in 1955 when the Tokyo Metropolitan Government was designated as the enforcer of Article 2 of the Motorboat Racing Act. In 1967, the Tokyo Rokkoku City Boat Racing Business Association, which consists of six cities including Hachioji City, participated as the executor. After that, in 1973, the boat racing business in Tokyo was abolished due to the intention of the governor of Minobe at that time. Union" will enter. Since then, these two unions have shared the rights to host the event, and have continued to operate it to this day.
When the Sanichi Profitable Business Association entered the market, it was in a period of high economic growth, and dividends to member cities steadily increased every year. Dividends to Inagi City started from 400 million yen in 1973, and reached 1.5 billion yen in 1991, the peak period.
However, after the collapse of the bubble economy, both the number of visitors and the amount of sales slumped for a long period of time, and in 2001, the figure had decreased to 10 million yen.
Since then, we have been working to improve management, shifting from manned to automated sales counters for victory boat betting tickets, and changing the operation method to a joint operation by both unions, thereby reducing holding costs and striving to maintain and increase dividends.
The cumulative amount of dividends distributed to Inagi City so far has exceeded 15.6 billion yen, bringing us valuable non-tax income.
This fiscal year, in addition to selling unnecessary fixed assets, we aim to further improve management and reduce costs, such as outsourcing business operations comprehensively to private companies.
The facility is also undergoing renovations, and we are looking forward to welcoming you with a variety of seats, from the free admission sales office to the special GOLD seats with single-seat monitors. There is a free shuttle bus from Funabori Station on the Toei Shinjuku Line, the nearest station. Be sure to see the martial arts boat race on the water at least once, along with the Skytree tour, water bus, and various downtown sightseeing.