Dosanko horses ridden to New Year's prayers at Hokkaido shrine

HAKODATE, Japan - Dressed in traditional Japanese warrior costume, riders astride Hokkaido-bred Dosanko horses ascend the Hakodate Hachimangu shrine on Jan. 2 to offer New Year prayers for the safety of man and horse. Reputedly strong in leg, the five Dosanko horses taking part in the annual event climb up the 134 stone steps of the Shinto shrine in less than 1 minute. According to Shigeru Ikeda, owner of the Dosanko Farm horse-riding club in Hakodate, there are about 1,000 Dosanko horses in Hokkaido today, while an estimated 100,000 Dosanko roamed free in Hokkaido in the late 19th century.

• Product Code
• ILEA001125634

• Registered date
• 2008/1/02 00:00:00

• Credit
• Kyodo / Kyodo News Images

• Media source
• 2008 Kyodo News

• Media size
• 1864 × 1228 pixel

• Resolution
• dpi

• Deployment size
• 831.03(KB)*

• Special instruction

*File size when opened in Photoshop, etc.