HORSES AND HORSE MEDICINE IN MUROMACHI JAPAN An Old Manuscript Reveals its Secrets

JFLA Virtual Lecture Series: HORSES AND HORSE MEDICINE IN MUROMACHI JAPAN An Old Manuscript Reveals its Secrets The horse was transformative for the islands of Japan from ancient times. The horse was a creature of legend, a force of nature to be worshipped, respected, used, and loved. When David Ramey, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, from California traveled to Kyoto, Japan in April of 2019, he was given an old manuscript written in the Muromachi period (13361573) from his Japanese friend. It is written in illegible old Japanese script and full of beautiful and mysterious illustrations about horse medicine. Dr. Rameys immense curiosity to understand the manuscript led to an internationally collaborated project of translating the manuscript into the modern language. In this lecture, Dr. Ramey and one of his coauthors, Ms. Kaoru Tomoyoshi will talk about fascinating discoveries in the manuscript, the littleknown history of horses in Japan, and their relationship with the Japanese people during that era