Lost Traditions: Horses and Horse Medicine in pre-Modern Japan, explores the relationships between horses and people of Japan that developed and flourished from the 5th - 18th centuries. Without question, the horse is the most important animal in human history, and has served humans in many areas, including transportation, agriculture, and war.
Initially, there were no horses in Japan. However, by the 5th century, the horse was transformative for the people of the Japanese islands. When horses arrived in Japan they were a creature of wonder: of the gods. The horse was a legend: a force of nature to be worshipped, respected, used, and loved. Throughout the history of Japan, horses have been worshipped as gods, used, abused, sacrificed, venerated, fetishized, imported, exported, and represented in art.
The horse was first a prize of the Japanese nobility, then an essential tool of war, next a tool of commerce and agriculture, and finally, a tool that was ultimately replaced by modern advances. All of this—and all of the skills that were necessary to accommodate horses—occurred over a period of roughly 1500 years. They appeared in an instant—in an instant, they were mostly gone.
An incredible mix of history, art, and horsemanship, "Lost Traditions" is a collaborative effort between veterinarians, farriers, historians, artists, and museums, not only from Japan, but from all over the world. The medicine that was used in the 16th and 17th centuries in Japan may be long forgotten, but the importance of the horse to its people will always be remembered.
