(Stripes Okinawa)
In Japan, about 15.5 million fans attend about 21,000 horse races annually with 25 horse tracks throughout mainland Japan. But thanks to the recession and competition from other forms of amusement, the industry shrank from 45.5 trillion yen ($422 billion) in revenues and 27 million participants in 1993 to 34.5 trillion yen and 15.5 million participants within only a decade.
Kyo/Hibi (-ki, -ku) (Sound/Echo) (Stripes Okinawa)
