Yokohama is in the throes of enforcing a controversial measure in this gift-giving season -- a tax on horse race betting aimed at whittling down the city's budget deficit.
The plan has been greeted with dismay by the Japan Racing Association and many die-hard gamblers.
"They're just ganging up on us. We intend to call on the assembly to reject the tax bill," Hisashi Suzuki, director of the JRA, said at a recent press conference in Tokyo.
The bill, submitted Friday to the assembly, will be put to a vote Dec. 14. It would allow the city to levy a tax on pari-mutuel ticket sales at two JRA off-track betting booths.