At Cape Toi in Miyazaki Prefecture, where wild horses called "Misakiuma" inhabit, the customary burning of fields was held.
Cape Toi in Kushima City, Miyazaki Prefecture is home to about 100 wild horses known as "Misakiuma," which are designated as national natural monuments, and has become a tourist attraction.
On the 29th, about 50 people, including members of a local group working to protect Misakiuma, burned about 50 hectares of land on a hill overlooking the sea.
The purpose of burning fields is to encourage the sprouts of grass that horses eat and to get rid of mites that are harmful to horses.
When the participants lit a fire with bamboo covered with oil soaked cloth, the dry grass started to crackle and the Misaki horse moved up the hill to avoid the smoke. rice field.
Koshiro Sakoda, the head of the Toi Misakimaki Association, who organized the burning, said, "When horses are sucked by ticks, they gradually lose weight and their growth is affected, so I think that burning is important."
In Cape Toi, new shoots will begin to grow as early as the end of next month, and Misakiuma will enter the birthing season in April.