Horse Park in Osaka Aiming to Protect Japanese Breed

Kashiwara, Osaka Pref., Jan. 8 (Jiji Press)–A horse park in the western Japan prefecture of Osaka is protecting and raising “Dosanko” Japanese horses, with only some 1,000 of the breed to be found in Japan. Masashi Yokoyama, 71, operates a park where people can wear traditional Japanese clothes and enjoy riding the Dosanko horses in the city of Kashiwara in Osaka Prefecture. Originally found in the northernmost Japan prefecture of Hokkaido, Dosanko horses have the biggest population among the eight native varieties of Japanese horses, according to the Japan Equine Affairs Association. Features of the breed include small size and toughness, compared with thoroughbred horses. Over 2,900 horses of the breed were raised in Japan in fiscal 1994. But the figure dropped to 1,056 in fiscal 2024. The fall was seen as partly caused by a decrease in the number of breeders, following demand downturns for the horses, reflecting the development of automation in agriculture. Yokoyama learned that Japanese horse breeds were at risk of extinction, when he started riding in France about 40 years ago. After he was asked to train horses, he opened the park in Osaka in October 2022. In the area, people do not have many opportunities to interact with horses. The park now has six Dosanko horses and a horse retired from racing. People can experience brushing, feeding and riding horses. Yokoyama came up with the idea of using Japanese horses for martial arts. He then started offering opportunities for people to experience horse riding, letting them choose a costume from three types, including armor. The park also holds events in which people can feel the atmosphere of Japan’s Sengoku period, which spanned from the 15th century to the 16th century and is characterized by a series of civil wars. The park allows visitors to bring their own clothes as well. Yokoyama said that there was a visitor who brought “hakama” traditional clothing now often worn at weddings. “In Japan, there are many clubs where people cannot ride a horse without officially joining,” said Yokoyama. Yokoyama said that he aims to offer a place in which visitors can ride a horse many times even if they are not official members of such clubs. He added that he wants to increase the number of people who can build long relationships with horses. The park also acts as a hub for raising horses that were purchased from areas of Hokkaido. He aims to create places where Dosanko can be used, selling them to clubs that hope to use them for horseback riding for children, he said. It is not enough to simply breed and increase the number of Japanese horses, which are said to be at risk of extinction, Yokoyama said. “I want to think about what we can do by utilizing them.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]