Wooden Horses 4ea Yawata Uma Japanese Statue Miharu-Gome Folkart Toy 1960’s 213V. The Yawata-uma horse figurine is a traditional local toy with a history of over 700 years. It is said that the wooden horses were originally made by farmers in the off-season to be sold as souvenirs of the Kushihiki Hachiman-gu Shrine annual festival, and became known as “Yawata-uma”. (“Yawata” is another reading of “Hachiman”.) The horse market was held during Kushihiki Hachiman shrine festival during the Lunar calendar between August 14th and 15th. It was also customary for breeders to purchase a wooden horse toy like this particular piece as a charm to pray for the health of their horse that was just sold at the market. The gorgeous patterns painted on the wooden horses reflected the way real horses were traditionally adorned for rural weddings in the region. The dotted decoration on the piece suggests the stylized rivets of armor, Yawata-uma are one of Japan’s “migoma” or three wooden horses, and as they bring good luck, they are often given as mementos of celebrations such as weddings and new buildings.