KUWANA, Mie Prefecture—The Mie prefectural government will issue improvement instructions to organizers of the “Ageuma Shinji” (Horse jumping festival) after the event came under intense criticism over its treatment of the animals.

During this year’s festival held at Tado shrine here in May, one horse stumbled and broke its front left leg.

It was administered a painkiller but was put down after deliberations between its owner and a vet.

Sources said prefectural government officials also observed festival participants repeatedly hitting the horses with traditional “happi” coats or ropes.

Although such behavior “cannot be described as animal abuse, it was still inappropriate” in light of the Welfare and Management of Animals Law, officials said.

On May 4, the Kuwana city government tweeted about the festival with photos.

The tweet garnered more than 1,000 comments, most of them critical of the decision to put down the injured horse as well as the treatment of the horses. Many responses blasted the way the horses were forced to run up a steep slope and jump over the high wall.

The prefectural government also received about 1,000 complaints about the festival from across the country.

The verbal improvement instruction will be issued to the shrine and an “ujiko” organization that has traditionally provided horses for the festival, according to sources at the prefectural government.

Ujiko literally means worshippers of a guardian deity of a particular area, called “ujigami.”

Ageuma Shinji, a Shinto ritual, is held at the shrine on May 4 and 5 every year.

Horses carrying young riders in traditional warrior attire rush up the steep slope during the festival. It is believed that the state of the coming harvest can be predicted by whether the horses can jump over the 1.5-to-2-meter-tall mud wall placed at the top of the slope.

The festival is believed to have started around 700 years ago during the Nanboku-cho period (1336-1392).

The prefectural government has designated the festival an intangible folk cultural property.

This year, horses belonging to the Mikuriya ujiko organization came from six districts to take part in the festival.

The six horses each ran up the slope three times.

However, only three horses successfully cleared the mud wall after being manually pulled to the top of wall by festival participants.

Before the horses ran up the slope, the participants hit the animals with ropes and happi coats. Some aggressively waved the happi coats or yelled loudly at the horses.

The “council for measures to prevent accidents at Ageuma Shinji,” whose members include Mikuriya representatives and officials of the prefectural government and the Kuwana city government, will hold a meeting this month.

The prefectural government plans to give verbal instructions for improvements at the meeting.

Such instructions are not legally binding. But an official responsible for animal protection issues at the food safety section at the prefectural government said improvements must be made for the festival to continue.

“We would like to report to those concerned the fact that the festival attracted much criticism,” the official said. “It’s difficult to continue the festival without making improvements. People need to understand that.”

A shrine official said about the reported behavior at the festival: “If that was true, it is unforgivable. We will strive to follow relevant laws and regulations, and make sure that historical and cultural values (of the festival) will not be harmed.”

The festival had been accused of abusing horses in the past.

According to local residents, in the past festivals, horses were forced to take stimulants, drink sake or were kicked in the lower belly before they ran up the slope.

But such actions do not occur anymore, the residents said.

In 2011, the Mie prefectural board of education instructed festival organizers to stop behavior that goes against the spirit of animal welfare.

After this instruction was issued, Mikuriya decided not to give the horses unnecessary medication or injections during the festival.

It also decided that people who are not riders will not carry tools, such as pieces of bamboo or sticks, during the festival.