Koguchi Horse Selling

About this event

This traditional event is held every year during Koshogatsu (Little New Year) on January 14 (lunar New Year) in Koguchi, Ryumon 1st Ward, Kikuchi City, Kumamoto Prefecture. Centered around local children working together with adults, model horses are crafted using straw and bamboo. Straw is used to shape the horse from head to torso and tail, while the 4 legs are made of bamboo. Households with children take turns hosting, gathering every year on the grounds of 1 household to make them. On the previous day, work is done twisting up straw to form the horse shapes. On the night of the event, children visit around the hamlet, distributing horses carried on trays to each home while saying, We have come to sell horses. The horses are exchanged for snacks, mochi rice cakes, mikan mandarins, and other items, and displayed on household Shinto altars or tokonoma alcoves. This event carries the meaning of praying for a year of good health and safety for the cattle and horses raised locally since ancient times, and has been celebrated especially as a boys' event expressing gratitude and appreciation for draft animals essential to agriculture. Although it is not certain when it began, it is a precious folk event passed down in the community for many years.

Venue

Kami-Koguchi Trailhead

Happogatake Line, Ryumon Wide-Area Trunk Forest Road, Ryumon, Kikuchi, Kumamoto 861-1672