Regarding the traditional event "Raising Horse Shinto Ritual" held at a shrine in Kuwana City, Mie Prefecture, where young people ride up steep hills, the prefecture and other organizations have been pointing out that it may be animal cruelty, such as the fact that a horse fell and broke a bone during a Shinto ritual in May, and measures were taken to kill it.
Under these circumstances, the prefectural council stated that "sufficient governance has not been taken" and compiled an opinion requesting that the body that implements this ritual be clarified.
The "Raising Horse Shinto Ritual" is a traditional event that has been held at Tado Taisha Shrine in Kuwana City, Mie Prefecture for more than 680 years and has been designated as an intangible folk cultural property of Mie Prefecture.
In the Shinto ritual, young people run up a steep hill on horseback and predict the pattern of crops based on the number of times they cross the wall at the top, but at the Shinto ritual in May, one horse fell and broke a bone, and veterinarians took measures to kill it, so ▽ Voices pointing out that it is animal cruelty and ▽ Voices calling for the cancellation of the designation as a cultural property are spreading on SNS, Similar voices have been received one after another in the prefecture and other prefectures.
Against this backdrop, Mie Prefecture held a council meeting on the protection of cultural properties on March 5.
The meeting was held behind closed doors, but according to the council, ▽ the governance of the Shinto ritual is not sufficiently thorough, and the prefecture should ask the organizer to clarify the entity that performs the ritual among the Tado Taisha shrine and local representatives, ▽ to thoroughly manage safety so that there are no accidents between people and horses, etc. It was submitted to the Prefectural Board of Education.
Tomohiko Okano, chairman of the council, said, "I hope that the festival will comply with laws related to animal welfare and other matters and make it a modern festival."