Mie Prefectural Police referred 12 individuals to prosecutors Tuesday over possible violations of animal protection laws in connection with the alleged abuse of horses during a Shinto ritual.
The 12 individuals are suspected of having forced horses to climb up a steep hill during the ritual known as Ageuma Shinji in May 2023 and committed violent acts against the animals.
One of the horses fractured its leg during the ritual and was subsequently euthanized, sparking public outrage.
An investigation was launched after animal rights groups filed a criminal complaint last October against the organizers of the ritual.
The Ageuma Shinji is a traditional ceremony that dates back to the Nanboku-cho period (1337-92), in which horses run up a hill. Shinto practitioners have long believed that the number of times the horses climb over an earthen wall that is around 2 meters high near the top of the hill predicts the quality of harvests.
The height of the wall in the ritual far exceeds the maximum 1.6 meters allowed under the rules of the International Federation for Equestrian Sports.
In March, Tado Grand Shrine, which hosts the ritual, submitted a written response to recommendations made in October 2023 by the prefectural board of education to indicate its willingness to make changes to the ritual to comply with animal protection laws, such as the removal of walls.
Traditionally held on May 4 and 5 each year at the shrine in the city of Kuwana, the ceremony was listed as “an intangible cultural asset” by Mie’s education board in 1978.