Festival/Event Name: Chag Chag ma
Prefecture: Iwate Prefecture
Area Name: Morioka City, Takizawa City

A gorgeous horse rings a bell and walks in the city.

Chug, Chug, Chug, Chug….It is a tradition of early summer in the middle of Iwate prefecture that the farming horses near 100 head which made colorful decorations while ringing the sound of the bell slowly walk.Next to Morioka city, the shrine in Morioka city from Onigoe-Mae Shrine in Takizawa City, and about 14 ㎞ to the Morioka Hachiman Palace March.In Iwate, known as the origin of horses for a long time, horses were in close contact with people’s lives.Born from the feeling of valuing the horse, “Chag Chag” is a rare global festival held on the second Saturday of June every year, and has been selected as an intangible folk cultural asset from the Agency of Cultural Affairs to take the position of record making.

The beginning is the good health of the agricultural horse’s disease

In Iwate Prefecture, there was a custom to pray for the good health of the farming horse to cultivate the field, to carry luggage, and to support people’s lives, and to visit the shrine where there is a horse defense God.In that case, it is said that the Chag Chag horse was started because it was popular to pull the horse dressed neatly.It was interrupted for a while after the war from the end of World War II, but revived by volunteer people.Preserving the traditions that have been loved in the region for a long time has also been formed, and many tourists from all over the world visit the museum today.

The horses ‘ vivid costumes are handmade of old fashioned

The colorful costumes of the farming horses and the sound of many bells Chag Chag the charm of the horse.The bell has about 700 pieces per head, and this sound is chosen as “100 Japan sound Scenery”.The beautiful costume is called the “Koshida costume” which is attached to the horse when the old Lord attendant in line for the official.Today, we use a good quality hemp for horse sweat, and we give the plant dyeing using the dye only in this region, and it is finished by the old-fashioned handmade.The total weight of the costume is about 60 ㎏, and a few of them are used to dressing the horse.

Ittai living space, Southern Bend House

It is a building “Southern Bend House” to understand well how the people of Iwate and the farming horse were connected by a deep bond before.The bend House is a living space that the person and the horse both wake up under one roof by the structure of the L shape that the living room and the stable continue to divide the earth floor.It is thought that the horse also melted into the life as a member of the family.The appearance of the horse came to be understood from the dirt floor and the living room, and the window was always installed for the health management of the horse.In the Osawa district of Takizawa City, the starting place of Chag Chag, there is still a Southern bend house and Fujikura house where horses and people live together.

A horse toy with vivid coloring and decorations

One of the folk crafts made after the Chag Chag horse is “Chag Chag horse Toy”.After the war, people living in the suburbs began to make them, and even now they are made by one hand.I painted a carved horse, and it is the one that the ornament was put like the real thing, and it is a very adorable figure.Like the real thing, there is a cute bell that echoes with Chug and Chug.It can be chosen as a gift as a lucky charm.It is popular as a souvenir as there are various from the size on the palm of the hand to the big one.

Festival event name Chag Chag MA Co.
Time of the second Saturday of June, 9:30 departure
Venue: Takizawa City-Morioka City
Phone number 019-613-8391 (Tourism Exchange Division, Morioka City Commerce and Industry)
Access 35 minutes by shuttle from Jr Morioka Station, Onigoe-Mae Shrine and a short walk
URL http://www.city.morioka.iwate.jp/kankou/kankou/umako/1007961.html (Morioka city)
Http://www.city.takizawa.iwate.jp/01chag (Takizawa City)