Zodiac horse ornament

This is a figurine of the horse, the zodiac sign for 2026 .

The horse is the seventh animal in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac. It is associated with the idea that things will go well and good fortune will rush in, and its powerful, forward-moving form makes it a symbol of vitality, success, and abundance, making it a very auspicious animal. It has also had a deep connection with humans since ancient times, and is said to be a messenger of the gods, a lucky charm for safe travels, and a prosperous business.

The origin of the zodiac is said to be around 1600 BC, during the Shang Dynasty, China's oldest dynasty. It was around this time that it was discovered that Jupiter, one of the most sacred planets, takes 12 years to complete one revolution around the celestial sphere (the idea that there is a large sphere outside the Earth on which all the stars are arranged).

To understand Jupiter's movements each year, people divided the celestial body into twelve parts and assigned Chinese characters to each part. However, characters such as "子" (child) and "丑" (ox) did not originally have the meanings of "mouse" or "cow."

However, it is said that the desire to spread the idea of the zodiac to the general public led to the use of animal names. The zodiac was introduced to Japan in the middle of the 6th century, and by the Edo period, the custom of expressing the year and time with animals had become widespread among the general public.