{"product_id":"horse-seto-unmaneki-left","title":"Maneki Uma: Beckoning Horse Pair","description":"\u003cul dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eInvite both fortune and good company into your home, one figure for money, one for people\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cul dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOwn an authentic piece of Japanese craft, hand-cast and hand-painted in Seto, not a mass-produced import\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA one-of-a-kind pair, since every face is painted freehand and never repeated\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA meaningful gift for anyone marking their own zodiac year in 2026, or simply for the year of the horse\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHorses have long been kept as household charms in Japan, believed to protect the family and carry good fortune, since they historically supported people through farming and travel\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSold as a matched male and female pair in blue, one with its right hand raised and one with its left\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLeft unglazed after firing, then hand-painted in matte pigment, so no two figures look quite the same\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe horse symbolizes vitality, success, and victory luck in Japanese tradition, drawn from the image of its powerful gallop. White horses were kept at shrines as shinme, sacred messengers of the gods. The shrine votive tablet still used today for wishes, the ema, literally means \"picture of a horse,\" from the practice of offering a horse (later a painted tablet of one) in exchange for a wish.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eOne figure in this pair raises its right hand, said to invite money, and the other its left, said to invite people, the same convention used for maneki-neko.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eAs a zodiac figure rather than a New Year decoration, it holds the same meaning whether bought in January or November, the same way collectors building a full twelve-animal set buy pieces year-round.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe figure also isn't tied to the calendar year for most people. Anyone born in a previous horse year (2014, 2002, 1990, 1978, 1966, 1954) reaches their \"toshidoshi\" (年男・年女) in 2026, the year their birth-zodiac comes back around. This is treated as a milestone year in Japanese tradition, historically linked to special roles in shrine rituals such as setsubun bean-throwing. The Japanese zodiac year doesn't end on December 31st. Tradition marks the turn at Setsubun, in early February, so 2026 is still the Year of the Horse until February.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eSeto has served as a major Japanese pottery centre since the Heian period and was historically the sole domestic producer of glazed ceramics, which is why \"setomono\" became the standard Japanese term for pottery. Since the late 1800s, Seto's artisans have applied their expertise to ceramic dolls and figures using traditional methods: plaster mould casting, firing, and freehand hand-painting.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eMaterial: Ceramic \u003cbr\u003eSize: 8.5 × 6.4 × 5.0 cm (each figure) \u003cbr\u003eFinish: Matte, hand-painted \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCare note: The paint is applied after firing rather than glazed in, so keep both pieces dry and handle them gently. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOrigin: Seto, Japan\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"www.Japan-Best.net","offers":[{"title":"Navy","offer_id":63428106256714,"sku":null,"price":30.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"Light Red","offer_id":63428106289482,"sku":null,"price":30.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0409\/4296\/0806\/files\/Maneki-Uma-Beckoning-Horse-Pair-www_Japan-Best_net.jpg?v=1788622227","url":"https:\/\/www.japan-best.net\/fr\/products\/horse-seto-unmaneki-left","provider":"www.Japan-Best.net","version":"1.0","type":"link"}