The Mystery of Aouma-no-Sechie — A Thousand-Year Court Belief That Seeing White Horses in the New Year Dispels Evil

What Is Aouma-no-Sechie — The Court Event of the Seventh Day of the New Year

Aouma-no-Sechie was an important sechie (court banquet ritual) held at the imperial palace on the seventh day of the New Year, from the Nara through Heian periods. 'Sechie' refers to formal court events held at the seasonal turning points, and several were prescribed throughout the year, including the New Year's Day Sechie, the Aouma-no-Sechie, and the Toka-no-Sechie in January.

At the heart of the Aouma-no-Sechie is the ritual in which the emperor reviews white horses (aouma) kept by the Sama-ryo and the Uma-ryo (the Left and Right Horse Offices). The emperor would appear at the front of the Shishinden Hall, and the white horses led out from the offices on his left and right would solemnly pass before him. The number of horses was seven on each side, fourteen in all—at some periods reportedly as many as twenty-one.

The belief at the core of the Aouma-no-Sechie is an ancient folk conviction that 'seeing white horses at the start of the year drives away the year's evil influences and allows one to pass the year free of illness.' Faith in the numinous power of horses themselves, especially in the unique sacredness of pure-white horses, lies behind this grand court rite.

This article explores from various angles why the rite is called 'aouma' (literally 'blue horse') while actually using white horses, the basis for believing that merely seeing a horse could dispel evil, the lineage of white horse belief at shrines, and the forms of white horse ritual that remain today.

Why Is the Horse Written 'Aouma' (Blue Horse) Yet Read as White? — The Mystery of a Lost Color Vocabulary

One of the greatest puzzles of the Aouma-no-Sechie lies in its notation and reading.

Ancient texts often write 'Aouma-no-Sechie' using the characters for 'blue horse,' read 'aouma no sechie.' Yet the horses actually used were white (or extremely light gray). Why should an event in which white horses appear be called 'blue'? Researchers have long puzzled over the question.

The key to the puzzle lies in the distinctive system of color names in ancient Japanese. In old Japanese, color terms were not as finely differentiated as today, and the four basic colors were 'ao,' 'aka,' 'shiro,' and 'kuro.' Among these, 'ao' was a broad concept covering not only blue but also green, gray, and pale colors in general. Even now, terms like 'aoshingo' (green traffic light), 'aona' (green leafy vegetables), and 'aonisai' (greenhorn) preserve the usage of calling green things 'ao.'

The horses that ancient people called 'aouma' likely had what we would today describe as 'pale gray' or 'bluish white' coats. Horse coat colors have a distinctive classification—'kage,' 'kurige,' 'aoge'—where 'aoge' is the technical term for a black coat and 'aokage' for nearly black brown, terminology still in use today.

From partway through the Heian period, the horses used at court are said to have shifted to pure white. One theory is that white horses more strongly express 'purity' and 'sacredness' visually, leading to a gradual substitution. The name 'aouma' remained traditional, but the writing came to be 'white horse.' The discrepancy between reading and writing carries forward the remnants of a color-name system more than a thousand years old.

Seeing the Horse Drives Away Evil — A Lineage from Ancient Chinese Yin-Yang Thought

To understand the basis of belief in the Aouma-no-Sechie, we must trace it back to ancient Chinese yin-yang and five-elements thought.

In yin-yang thought, spring at the beginning of the year is the season in which 'yang' energy strengthens. The animal symbolizing yang energy is the horse, and especially horses of bright color (white or blue) were said to embody the height of yang. By looking at a white horse, full of yang energy, at the start of the new year, one expelled the 'yin energy' and 'evil influences' accumulated in the body during winter and received the vitality of the year—this is the religious foundation of the Aouma-no-Sechie.

This thinking derives from the teaching of 'seeing a blue horse in spring,' recorded in such Chinese classics as the Liji (Book of Rites) and the Huainanzi. The Chinese imperial court too held rituals reviewing white horses at the start of the year, and they were transmitted to Japan as the Aouma-no-Sechie.

The Xunzi contains a passage about the 'rite of the blue horse,' according to which the ruler observing a white horse at the new year elevates the fortunes of the entire state. The Japanese Aouma-no-Sechie was likewise more than a personal prayer for health: as the central figure of the state, the emperor, observed the white horse, the evil of the entire realm was dispelled and the peace of the year was guaranteed—a profoundly political and religious meaning.

The choice of the horse rests on another ancient belief as well. The horse was long regarded as 'a mount of the gods'—especially a sacred beast ridden by deities who travel through the heavens. In Japanese myth too the horse appears in deep connection with the gods, as in the scene in which Susanoo flayed the skin of the heavenly piebald horse Ame-no-Fuchikoma and threw it before the Heavenly Rock Cave. Observing a sacred horse at the new year was also an act of receiving the power of the gods directly.

The Rite of Aouma-no-Sechie — A Grand Ceremony Unfolding at the Shishinden

The actual ritual of the Aouma-no-Sechie was extremely refined and solemn. Its details are recorded in ancient ritual codes such as the Engishiki and Jogan Gishiki.

Early on the morning of the seventh day of the first month, at the Sama-ryo and Uma-ryo, carefully selected white horses were washed meticulously and their coats groomed. Special decorations were placed on the horses' noses, and colored braided cords were woven into their manes. The grooms who led the horses also lined up in sokutai (formal court dress).

In the south garden of the Shishinden, attending nobles formed lines according to their court rank. The emperor watched the procession of white horses from behind the misu (bamboo blind) at the back of the Shishinden. The horses were led out alternately from the left and right offices and passed slowly before the emperor. Rather than parading one by one, the horses moved in pairs from each side—a visual expression of the harmony of yin and yang.

When the review of horses was complete, a great banquet was held at the Shishinden. This was the essence of the sechie: the emperor served 'shirouma-zake' (or aouma-zake) to the nobles, waka were composed, and dance and music were performed. Shirouma-zake was a clear sake specially brewed for the Aouma-no-Sechie, and drinking it was likewise believed to drive away evil.

Upon departing, attending nobles exchanged the greeting 'I have seen the blue horse' as their New Year's salutation. The Tale of Genji and The Pillow Book vividly depict the splendor of the Aouma-no-Sechie throughout, marking it as one of the rituals emblematic of Heian court culture.

White Horse Belief Inherited by Shrines — Kamo Kurabe-Uma and Sumiyoshi's Aouma Ritual

The Aouma-no-Sechie declined as a court ritual around the Muromachi period, but its spirit was deeply inherited by shrine ritual.

Kamo Kurabe-Uma at Kamigamo Shrine in Kyoto, a traditional horse rite held on the fifth day of the fifth month, ranks alongside yabusame and is said to derive from the Heian Aouma-no-Sechie. Two horses race down the riding course within the precincts and the year's fortunes are read from the outcome, with the underlying belief that 'the power of a sacred horse is offered to the kami.'

The Aouma Ritual of Sumiyoshi Taisha in Osaka, held annually on the seventh of January, is the most direct inheritor of the court ritual of the Aouma-no-Sechie. Sumiyoshi Taisha's sacred horse 'Shirayuki-go' runs through the precincts, and worshippers who see him are said to be assured of good health for the year. On the day of the rite, large crowds gather and long lines form for a glimpse of the white horse.

At Kibune Shrine in Kyoto, an 'Aouma-no-Sechie Ritual' is reenacted every May 1. This is an attempt to bring the ancient Aouma-no-Sechie to life today, and the sight of priests in vestments and a white horse advancing through the precincts has drawn attention as a living scene of millennium-old court culture.

At Tenmangu and Hachiman shrines across the country, which have deep ties to horses, the tradition of carefully keeping a white horse as a sacred horse still continues. The sacred horse is usually tethered in the shrine's stable, but on the days of special festivals he is led along the sando and appears before worshippers.

The Connection Between Sacred Horses and Ema — From Living Horses to Wooden Boards

The horse belief that begins with the Aouma-no-Sechie is also deeply connected to the Japanese culture of ema.

In ancient Japan, offering a living horse to a shrine was considered the highest form of prayer. There was a custom of offering a black horse for rain prayers and a white horse for prayers for fair weather, based on Chinese yin-yang thought (black for water, white for the sun). But offering a living horse was a great economic burden, and gradually 'wooden horse carvings' and 'painted horses' came to substitute. This is the origin of today's ema.

At shrines with traditions of white or sacred horses—Kasuga Taisha in Nara, Kibune Shrine in Kyoto, Sumiyoshi Taisha in Osaka, and others—horses are often depicted on the ema, a remnant of the most ancient layer of belief in 'offering living horses.' Unlike today's ema, on which wishes are written, the original ema were pure offerings to the kami.

Moreover, while the white horse is sacred on its own, we should not forget the paired black horse. White and black horses form a yin-yang pair, and offering both together was said to complete the prayer. The tradition of keeping both white and black horses long continued at Kamo and Kibune.

White Horses in Folk Belief — The Treasure Ship of the Seven Lucky Gods and the First Dream

Faith in the white horse extended beyond the court and shrines and spread broadly into folk belief.

A tradition especially dear to Japanese people is that 'seeing a white horse in the year's first dream is auspicious.' The famous ordering of auspicious first-dream subjects—'first Mount Fuji, second the hawk, third the eggplant'—continues with 'fourth the fan, fifth tobacco, sixth the blind musician,' and 'white horse' also stands as a special auspicious dream. To see a white horse in a new year's dream was said to have the same spiritual effect as actually seeing one at the Aouma-no-Sechie.

White horses also appear in paintings of the treasure ship of the Seven Lucky Gods. This is the spread of the folk belief that 'seeing a white horse brings good fortune' to New Year's auspicious objects. In the Edo period, the custom of hanging a painting of a white horse on the entrance of one's home at the new year is recorded in some regions.

Among the omamori and ema distributed at shrines, more than a few depict the figure of a white horse. The appearance of white horses on amulets for warding off misfortune or for health is testimony that millennium-long belief stemming from the Aouma-no-Sechie is alive in modern devotional items.

The terms 'aouma,' 'shirouma,' and 'horse of early spring' have also long been used as new-year seasonal words in haiku and waka. Several haiku by Basho and Buson echo the Aouma-no-Sechie. The deeply rooted belief in white horses has functioned as a kind of basso continuo in Japanese culture.

White Horse Belief Today — A Crossroads of Tourism and Modern Spirituality

In contemporary Japan, faith in white horses lives on in several forms.

The first is the continuation of white horse rituals at shrines. Many shrines—including Sumiyoshi Taisha, Kamigamo Shrine, Kibune Shrine, and Meiji Jingu—preserve the tradition of sacred horses. On special days, such as the anniversary of Meiji Jingu's founding, one can see the sacred horse advancing through the precincts.

The second is the connection with horse racing culture. In races held by the Japan Racing Association (JRA) and at local tracks, the appearance of a white horse becomes news, and especially when a white horse wins a New Year's race, it is seen as 'auspicious' and draws popularity. This is an example of the spirit of the ancient Aouma-no-Sechie living on, in altered form, even within modern sports culture.

The third is 'Hakuba' as a tourist destination. Hakuba Village in Nagano Prefecture takes its name from Mount Hakuba, but the sound itself associates with the image of 'white horse' and makes it a popular New Year's travel destination. The presence of the name 'white horse' amid the all-white snowscape of winter likely evokes a latent image of good fortune.

Not long after the new year, on a family trip to Kyoto, I happened to visit Kamigamo Shrine. At the edge of the precincts, a white sacred horse was standing quietly in front of its stable, and a parent and child who had come to see it were quietly clasping their hands in prayer. I followed suit, and felt, oddly, as if a heaviness in my body let go—an unusual sensation. 'Ah, this is what it means to drive away the year by seeing the horse, the practice that has continued for a thousand years,' I felt I had understood with my body, without reading any explanation. Not logic, but a sight and an atmosphere—something is conveyed, and perhaps that is what ancient belief is.

What Aouma-no-Sechie Teaches About the Japanese View of Animals — Creatures as Divine Messengers

What the millennium-long history of the Aouma-no-Sechie passes down today is not merely faith in horses. It is a uniquely Japanese view of animals.

In traditional Japanese belief, animals are not mere 'creatures inferior to humans' but 'mediators between kami and people.' Horses, deer, foxes, doves, snakes, crows, and other animals considered 'shinshi' (divine messengers) at shrines have all been objects of faith as messengers of the kami, or as embodiments of the kami themselves.

For the emperor to view a white horse at the Aouma-no-Sechie was not simply to look at an animal but a religious act of 'encountering a divine messenger and receiving its spiritual power.' Sensing the gaze of the kami through the horse's eyes, receiving the kami's blessing through the horse's form—such sensibilities shaped the way Japanese people related to animals for a thousand years.

We today tend to classify animals as 'pets,' 'livestock,' or 'wildlife.' Ancient Japanese saw animals as 'manifestations of sacred beings.' This sensibility has not been entirely lost; perhaps when we meet a sacred horse, komainu, or fox statue at a shrine and feel something special, the memory of a thousand years of belief is unconsciously at work.

The next time you visit a shrine, if there is a sacred horse stable, please stop by. Looking into the eyes of a white horse, you should be able—across a thousand years—to meet a 'divine messenger' with the same sense as the Heian court nobles at the Aouma-no-Sechie. Especially during the New Year's first visit, a single glimpse of a white horse can dispel the year's evil and renew your vitality for the new year—an ancient belief we can still experience today.