It has been said since olden times that the year of the horse is a very active year and that a horse never falls to the left (the wrong or unlucky direction). The horse is suspposed to be a lucky animal preventing businesses from "heading to the left" or going in an unlucky direction. Nine horses are depicted roundly so that "everything will go roundly (smoothly) and'things will go well'(a homophone of the characters'nine horses go far')." Since olden times it has been a custom to decorate with this as a charm to ensure that all would go well. These were carved with the horse as a theme and some thought given to such ideas about luck. Last year for a year I went to Fukushima, Nakayama, Oi and other race tracks to sketch. I also left behind sizable "offerings." I am therefore certain that it will be a good exhibition. Tsunao Harada