At Denshoen, an open-air folk museum in Tōno, the Oshirado pavilion holds roughly a thousand effigies of Oshira-sama — mulberry-wood dolls in rag hoods, some carved with horse heads. The origin story is grim: a farmer’s daughter married her horse, her father beheaded it, and she flew off on its head to become a god. Visitors buy a cloth, write a wish, and tie it to an effigy; locals warn that disrespect invites a curse.