ABSTRACT
The horses of the seventh year gallop in a wild freedom across a plain, while the sheep of the eighth year huddle together for mutual protection, and the monkeys of the ninth year consider the meaning of life as applied to their own problems. The European dragon of the middle ages, a winged serpent with a crocodile’s tail, was the symbol of sin in general and of paganism in particular. Chronologically, the horse is an ancient animal in Japan. Murdoch says that “perhaps the most suggestive among the archeological spoils of the dolmens is the abundant horse furniture and trappings which are recovered.” Harukoma is the title of a popular song that was sung at the beginning of spring by singers who went from door to door and usually carried a miniature horse’s head their own heads. The Japanese word for hare, usagi, abbreviated to u, appears in some names.
