As I joined lines of people shuffling into a covered arena in Kiba, eastern Tokyo, one night recently, the scent of the air became distinctly more rural than urban.
Then, when I took my seat, it was immediately clear that the farmyard wafts were to do with the dozen white horses, their muscular bodies bathed in blue light, standing silently in the center of the sawdust ring drinking from a "waterfall" coming from on high, but which somehow disappeared into the ground.
These four-legged stars of the French equestrian spectacular "Battuta" were on standby, waiting like true professionals for their cue to step into the spotlight.