The Japanese Horse of the Year is the highest honor given in Japanese thoroughbred horse racing. It is awarded annually by the Japan Racing Association (JRA). Since 1987 the honor has been part of the JRA Awards. This award originally started as part of the Keishū Sha Awards in 1954 and since 1972 part of the Yūshun Awards.
| Year |
Horse |
Trainer |
Owner |
Age |
| 2010 | Buena Vista | Hiroyoshi Matsuda | Sunday Racing Co. | 4 |
| 2009 | Vodka | Katsuhiko Sumii | Yuzo Tanimizu | 5 |
| 2008 | Vodka | Katsuhiko Sumii | Yuzo Tanimizu | 4 |
| 2007 | Admire Moon | Hiroyoshi Matsuda | Darley Japan Farm Co., Ltd. | 4 |
| 2006 | Deep Impact | Yasuo Ikee | Kaneko Makoto Holdings Co., Ltd. | 4 |
| 2005 | Deep Impact | Yasuo Ikee | Kaneko Makoto Holdings Co., Ltd. | 3 |
| 2004 | Zenno Rob Roy | Kazuo Fujisawa | Shinobu Osako | 4 |
| 2003 | Symboli Kris S | Kazuo Fujisawa | Symboli Stud | 4 |
| 2002 | Symboli Kris S | Kazuo Fujisawa | Symboli Stud | 3 |
| 2001 | Jungle Pocket | Sakae Watanabe | Yomoji Saito | 3 |
| 2000 | T M Opera O | Ichizo Iwamoto | Masatsugu Takezono | 4 |
| 1999 | El Condor Pasa | Yoshitaka Ninomiya | Takashi Watanabe | 4 |
| 1998 | Taiki Shuttle | Kazuo Fujisawa | Taiki Farm | 4 |
| 1997 | Air Groove | Yuji Ito | Lucky Field Co.,Ltd. | 4 |
| 1996 | Sakura Laurel | Katsutaro Sakai | Sakura Commerce | 5 |
| 1995 | Mayano Top Gun | Masahiro Sakaguchi | Yu Tadokoro | 3 |
| 1994 | Narita Brian | Masaaki Ookubo | Hidenori Yamaji | 3 |
| 1993 | Biwa Hayahide | Mitsumasa Hamada | Biwa Co., Ltd. | 3 |
| 1992 | Mihono Bourbon | Tameo Toyama | Mihono International | 3 |
| 1991 | Tokai Teio | Shouichi Matsumoto | Masanori Uchimura | 3 |
| 1990 | Oguri Cap | Tsutomu Setoguchi | Shunsuke Kondo | 5 |
| 1989 | Inari One | Kiyoshi Suzuki | Hiroki Hotehama | 5 |
| 1988 | Tamamo Cross | Isami Obara | Tamamo Inc. | 4 |
| 1987 | Sakura Star O | Yuji Hirai | Sakura Commerce | 3 |
| 1986 | Dyna Gulliver | Kichizaburo Matsuyama | Shadai Race Horse | 3 |
| 1985 | Symboli Rudolf | Yuji Nohira | Symboli Bokujo | 4 |
| 1984 | Symboli Rudolf | Yuji Nohira | Symboli Bokujo | 3 |
| 1983 | Mr. C.B. | Yasuhisa Matsuyama | Marunuma Onsen Hotel Co., Ltd. | 3 |
| 1982 | Hikari Duel | Hikozo Sugai | Zenkichi Hashimoto | 5 |
| 1981 | Hoyo Boy | Toshio Nihonyanagi | Yoshiharu Furukawa | 6 |
| 1980 | Hoyo Boy | Toshio Nihonyanagi | Yoshiharu Furukawa | 5 |
| 1979 | Green Grass | Takao Nakano | Kichishiro Hanzawa | 6 |
| 1978 | Kane Minobu | Shotaro Abe | Ikuko Hatakeyama | 4 |
| 1977 | Ten Point | Sasuke Ogawa | Hisanari Takada | 4 |
| 1976 | Tosho Boy | Takayoshi Yasuda | Tosho Sangyo | 3 |
| 1975 | Kaburaya O | Tamejiro Mogi | Yoshiko Kato | 3 |
| 1974 | Kitano Kachidoki | Masatoshi Hattori | Yutaka Hatsuda | 3 |
| 1973 | Take Hope | Yukio Inaba | Take Kondo | 3 |
| 1972 | Ishino Hikaru | Takeshi Asano | Kiyohito Ishijima | 3 |
| 1971 | Tomei | Masayuki Sakata | Katsuo Kondo | 5 |
| 1970 | Speed Symboli | Shozo Nohira | Tomohiro Wada | 7 |
| 1969 | Takeshiba O | Suetaro Mitsui | Masao Obata | 4 |
| 1968 | Asaka O | Hiroshi Nakamura | Genji Asaka | 3 |
| 1967 | Speed Symboli | Shozo Nohira | Tomohiro Wada | 4 |
| 1966 | Korehide | Tokichi Ogata | Yasushi Chigira | 4 |
| 1965 | Shinzan | Bungo Takeda | Kokichi Hashimoto | 4 |
| 1964 | Shinzan | Bungo Takeda | Kokichi Hashimoto | 3 |
| 1963 | Meizui | Tokichi Ogata | Yasushi Chigira | 3 |
| 1963 | Ryu Forel | Masaharu Hashimoto | Emiko Miyoshi | 4 |