Cattle

Cattle are believed to have been domesticated around 8,000 years ago from a wild species of cattle called aurochs (now extinct). It is unclear when cattle and horses were first kept in the Oki Islands, but there are records of pasturing cattle and horses in makihata fields (a unique rotation farming method formerly practiced in the Oki Islands) as early as 1188. Today, makihata farming is no longer practiced, and cattle are mainly raised for breeding purposes. Approximately 600 cattle are raised on each of the four Oki Islands, and particularly on Nishinoshima and Chiburijima Islands, they can be seen grazing and relaxing in fields and by roadsides.
Ushi-zuki Bull Sumo, a bullfighting tradition said to have been begun to console the retired Emperor Go-Toba in his exile to the Oki Islands, is still practiced on the islands today.