Horse Festival - Umazek

Japanese: 馬節供 - うまぜっく

...In western Japan, there are ceremonies called Tahome and Sakudanomi, where people go out into the fields to praise the harvest, and there are also places all over the country where the ceremony of offering the first rice harvest to the gods is held. In the Setouchi region, such as Kagawa Prefecture, there is a ceremony called Umasekku, where rice crafts and paper-mache horses are presented to the home of a newborn boy, and in the Kanto region, there is a place called Shogasekku, where brides are given ginger to return home to their hometowns. These gift-giving customs are said to be influenced by upper class culture, but the custom of exchanging gifts such as "Tanomi" and "Tanomo", which was popular during the Muromachi period, is said to have been adopted from the samurai culture based in rural areas, and may have originated from the fact that people who helped each other with farm work would offer each other rice grains, i.e., the first harvest, as offerings to the gods. ...

From [Hatsu-sekku]

...In some regions, during New Year's Day or May, a large kite is flown to celebrate the birth of the first boy, and in the Hokuriku and Kyushu regions, the first Tanabata festival is celebrated. In Fukuoka, Nagasaki, and Kagawa prefectures, the first boy and girl are celebrated on Hassaku (August 1st) on the occasion of Tanomo no Sekku or Umasekku, and it is said that children who celebrate this will grow up strong. Tango Hinamatsuri [Ofuji Yuki]...

*Some of the terminology that refers to "Uma-sekku" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

Japanese:

…西日本各地にはタホメ，サクダノミなどと称して田に出て作柄を褒めてまわる予祝儀礼があるし，稲の初穂を神に献じる穂掛けの儀礼をする所が全国に点々とある。香川県など瀬戸内には馬節供といって新粉細工や張子の馬を男児誕生の家へ贈ったり，関東地方には生姜節供といってショウガを持たせて嫁に里帰りさせる所がある。これら贈答の習俗は上流文化の影響というが，室町時代に盛行した〈たのみ〉〈たのも〉などという進物を贈答し合う風は，農村に基盤をもつ武家の風が取り入れられたものといわれ，農作を助け合った間柄で，神供としての田実，すなわち初穂などを贈り合ったことに源があるのではないかとされている。…