Horse Park in Osaka Aiming to Protect Japanese Breed

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Jan 8, 2026 10:30 (JST)

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.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]

Jiji Press