Okinawa Slide Show
Red Horse dancers getting ready to perform (Taketomi Island)
The legend of the Red Horse pertains to Ishigaki Island in the Yaeyama group. The story goes that the King coveted a beautiful red horse that had come to his notice and demanded it as tribute. But after the horse was shipped to Shuri Castle on the main island of Okinawa it began to sicken. At last the king realized his mistake and to save the horse he sent it back, but it was shipwrecked on a reef. Somehow the horse swam to shore on Ishigaki and returned to its owner where it then dropped dead of exhaustion. The legend illustrates how the Yaeyama islanders chafed under the rule of of the king in distant Shuri Castle, the affection they feel for their own islands, and the prominent place of the horse in Yaeyama culture.
