Onigoe Amaizaki Jinja

Onigoe Sozen Jinja is a shrine located in Ugai Sotokubo, Takizawa City, Iwate Prefecture. The name "Sozen" refers to Komagata Okami, deity of horses, and the shrine has maintained deep ties with horses since ancient times. It is particularly renowned as the ritual starting shrine of Chagu Chagu Umakko, a horse festival designated as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan. Since the era when horses were vital for agriculture and transportation, worshippers have come to pray for horse safety and health. Today it is revered as a deity of traffic safety, and its quiet rural grounds offer peace to all who visit.