Ok horse lovers you will be green with envy when I tell you this! During my recent travels in Northern Japan I was extremely fortunate to attend a famous festival of horses in Japan in the town of Takazawa, Iwate.

The annual Chagu Chagu Umakko Horse Festival is not simply a parade of horses, but the whole farming district gets involved with a gorgeous display of flowering gardens and people from afar and the local community flock to the parade in their thousands to watch the spectacle.

Flowery Display of Poppies & Irises in Takazawa

This festival takes place the second Saturday of June every year and is a 15 kilometre parade commencing from Takizawa along the streets to Morioka, for both farmers and their large draught horses. It originated from the tradition to celebrate the completion of the rice planting job “taue” in their fields which is a significant achievement after such a long and hard toil.

Our Tour Guide in front of Rice Fields and Mt Iwate at Takazawa

The impressive horses were owned by the Samurais, farmers and lumberjacks in Iwate prefecture and became world renowned for their resilience during the world war campaigns. People in Iwate cherished their horses as if they were a member of the family and they lived in close quarters to them in ‘L’ shaped thatched roof houses called “Nambu Magariya”.

Traditional Nambu Magariya in Takazawa

The parade is to pay homage to the horses, or do “omairi”. The festival in olden days was celebrated to reward the horses by the farmers who would use them to plough their fields. The farmers would also take the horses to the shrines and pray for their good health and safety.

Sozen Jinja Shrine in Takazawa

Every horse is colourfully dressed and adorned not only with accoutrements, but also many bells that ring “chagu chagu”, whilst they march down the streets. Tiny children, exquisitely attired, straddle the giant horses and they are led by colourful ropes by one or two adults either side of the horse.

Chagu-Chagu-Umakko-Horse

At the commencement of the parade at the Sozen Jinja, a shrine which is believed to be a mascot for horses in Takazawa, there is a carnival type atmosphere with about one hundred horses, riders and handlers gathered.

Getting ready for the parade.

The grounds surrounding the shrine are like an “eat street” with delicious food stalls and sideshow type entertainment for the children. I tried a strawberry ice concoction which was made from minced frozen strawberries, a dollop of sweet sticky condensed milk and fresh cream – delicious!!

Chagu Chagu Umakko Festival Food Stall

Once the parade commences people line the streets to watch the colourful display go by and I imagine that this continues for the entire 15 kilometres of the march. The little children sitting atop the massive horses wave and smile at the crowds which completely melts your heart. They are so cute!

One of the cute Children in the parade.

After the parade we were taken to one of the “Nambu Magariya” houses for a tour and we got to meet and pet one of the Chagu Chagu Umakko horses and its little foal.

Traditional Nambu Magariya House and Horse in Takazawa

There was traditional drumming, singing and dancing performances, plus a ceremony where you have the opportunity put your head inside the mouth of a large lion puppet, which is supposed to bring you happiness!

Traditional Drummers & Dancers in Takazawa

Following our wonderful experience at the horse festival we were whisked away for lunch and then a visit to the Morioka Handi Works Square where you are able to view and purchase traditional locally made Iwate crafts, engage in a craft workshop, take a look through another Nambu Magariya house and browse the giftshop. We participated in the baking of a Nambu Sembei cookie workshop and then we made our own miniature Chagu Chagu Umakko horses crafted from wood and decorated to resemble the horses in the parade.

Making little replica Chagu Chagu Umakko Horses in Morioka

The Chagu Chagu Umakko Festival was not only a classic example of Japanese culture and tradition, but it also portrayed the strong bond between man and nature. Being an animal lover I was enchanted by these giant stoic creatures resplendent in their adornments. As for the cute little children in black and white costumes and polka dot scarves – they were adorable. I must confess that this was one of the highlights of Northern Japan for me!

Children of the Chagu Chagu Umakko Horse Festival

Where is Takazawa: Takazawa is located in the centre of the Iwate prefecture in Tohoku or Northern Japan and is 8 Kms from Morioka City or 10 Kms from our accommodation at the Prince Hotel Shizukuishi.

How to get there: We flew from Tokyo with All Nippon Airways ANA to Akita Airport and then were shuttled to Shizukuishi. However you can catch a train from Tokyo to Morioka City.

Where We stayed: We stayed at the Prince Hotel Shizukuishi which was very handy to Takazawa.

Linking up to Travel Photo Thursday