The Image of the Horse in the Japanese Worldview: A Symbiosis of Religion, Mythology and Culture

The relevance of the study is due to the importance of examining the ways in which cultural meanings are conveyed metaphorically, alongside the growing scholarly interest in understanding zoomorphic images and their interpretation in culture, which is linked to the general trend of expanding the problem field of cultural studies. The article presents a comprehensive analysis of the mythological, religious, and cultural connotations of the horse archetype within Japanese tradition. The methodology is based on an interdisciplinary synthesis: a structural-semiotic approach makes it possible to decode the image as an element of the cultural code, while a historical-cultural analysis reveals the transformations of the cultural meanings of its representations in the sociocultural dynamics. The author explores the sacred function of the horse in Shinto as a mediator between the world of humans and gods, tracing its evolution from live temple sacrifices to symbolic depictions on Ema, while also analyzing the horse cult within Buddhism. Special attention is paid to the peculiarities of the representation of the horse in ancient literary monuments, such as “Kojiki” and “Nihon Shoki”, as well as in medieval legends belonging to the military epic genre. The study reveals that the artistic functions and semantics of the zoomorphic image in medieval poetry, mythology, and folklore are ambivalent. Within the Japanese worldview, the horse can serve as an attribute of military valor or as a metaphor for the transience of existence, the brevity of life, and a symbol of unity with nature. The author concludes that the image of the horse in Japan represents a complex symbiosis of utilitarian, sacred, and aesthetic elements, offering significant interest due to its semantic density and diverse artistic functions. This zoomorphic archetype, which seamlessly weaves archaic beliefs together with historical transformations, continues to evolve, remaining a vital component of a living tradition that links ancient worldviews with modern consciousness.