Are you thinking about visiting Japan someday?
THINK TWICE before visiting Mie Prefecture!
Sure, there are some really nice places to visit in its area, the great Ise Shrine and such. However, the prefecture has a dark side, turning a blind eye to a horrible horse abuse by one of its shrines and its parishioners , for years.

The event is called Age-Uma and takes place at the Tado Taisha Sinto Shrine in Mie Prefecture as part of their annual festival in May. Horses (mostly retired racehorses) with inexperienced riders are forced to gallop through a narrow and steep 50-degree uphill path and jump up a 2-meter (6.6 feet) cliff at the end. The horses are beaten, kicked and severely whipped not only by the riders but also by festival supporters at the foot of the cliff to force them to make the impossible jump/climb. The event is covered by BBC. 
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65888685

The following videos show the event in 2017 (Youtube) and 2023 (Twitter). Be warned that the images are shocking. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BBBxH2u_Ew

here is yet another video.
https://twitter.com/UtsuOnna/status/1666804427741888515?s=20

As you can see in the video, the riders were inexperienced: they are mostly kids with a month of riding training and no skills to prevent a disaster. Many horses have been fatally injured or killed at the event, and one was euthanized this year. The shrine claims that the event in the present form is a "600-year-old tradition" and should be continued to preserve “local cultural heritage”, despite the fact that there were no thoroughbreds in Japan 600 years ago and no historical records to support their claim. In fact, the literature says that there was none of this "steep uphill followed by a high wall" business until 1911. The city and prefectural governments have turned a blind eye to the growing public concern and outcry to ban this event for years. And no, there are no animal police in Japan. 

We, the people in Japan who are against Age-Uma have been calling, mailing and emailing the local authorities and the shrine itself but we need your help to put more pressure on them. International tourism is BIG business in the area and your voice does help. Please email the following email addresses and let them know how you feel about this event and visiting Mie prefecture. 

Department of Tourism, Mie Prefectural Government
inbound@pref.mie.lg.jp

Section of Animal Welfare, Department of Medical Health, Mie Prefectural Government
shokusei@pref.mie.lg.jp

We appreciate it if you would forward this page to your friends and family, or use SNS to spread words. May our voices reach far and end the evil practice. 

Q & As
l  Q: Any other reports on this event?
https://japantoday.com/category/national/680-year-old-shinto-ritual-of-horses-running-up-earthen-'wall'-draws-animal-abuse-complaints
l  Q: Who is organizing (and responsible for) this event?
The shrine and the local government say that the event is being held by a group of shrine parishioners and therefore they are not responsible for what happened. The membership of this said group is not disclosed and there is no way (no address, no phone number, no email address) to contact them. 

l  Q: Who owns these horses?
The ownership of these horses has never been clearly stated. The Shrine says that they are owned by a group of shrine parishioners and rented to individuals who participate in the event. However, they do not seem to keep their horses year-round. The shrine once said that their group of parishioners buys about 30 horses each year. My guess is that a group of parishioners would buy or rent horses from horse dealers each year, use them at the event, and then get rid of them or return them to the dealer. The shrine said they did not know what happened to the horses after the event. It is highly unlikely that these horses would find homes after the event due to the severe physical and psychological damage. 

l  Q: Why have the local governments (city and prefecture) not addressed this abuse?
Generally speaking, the authorities in Japan are not aggressive about investigating animal abuse compared to the US and other countries. The local authorities say they have given advice, but we see that they are reluctant to investigate further. The Age-Uma supporters are locally loud and have been able to silence local opposition.