Japan’s thousand-year-old samurai horse pageant has survived wars, earthquakes and a nuclear catastrophe. Now it is battling a brand new problem — local weather change.
The Soma Nomaoi started as a option to prepare mounted warriors and it nonetheless seems to be the identical a millennium later, with riders wearing samurai armour competing in horseback occasions.
Until 2024, the pageant befell on the peak of Japan’s grueling summers, which had grow to be so sizzling that riders and spectators had been collapsing and horses dying of heatstroke.
That prompted organizers to change the pageant to the cooler temperatures of late May.
Mitsukiyo Monma, who has been participating within the occasion for 54 years, informed AFP that the change had given the pageant a brand new lease of life.
“You have to wear a kimono under the armour, which is not like going out in just a T-shirt in the summer,” mentioned the 69-year-old, including that he wanted medical consideration on a day when the mercury was near 40C.
“Your clothes would be so soaked that you could wring out the sweat,” he mentioned. “When the festival moved to May, it was the first time I could drink hot coffee before going out.”
Scientists say local weather change is making excessive climate occasions extra frequent and extreme, and temperatures world wide have soared lately.
Japan isn’t any exception. Last 12 months, the nation had its hottest summer season since information started in 1898.
Temperatures rising to 40C and above have grow to be so widespread that Japan’s climate company not too long ago created an official designation for them, labeling them “cruelly hot” days.
Records recommend that Soma Nomaoi has been held uninterrupted for not less than the final 400 years Image: AFP
‘Truly a samurai’
Such situations are hardly ideally suited for the Soma Nomaoi, the place individuals compete on horseback in samurai armour weighing round 25 kg.
The most important occasion begins with races round a flat, oval observe, with riders carrying large flags on their backs.
Hundreds of riders then collect in a big grass area and compete to seize coloured flags that drift to the bottom after being fired excessive into the air.
On the final of the pageant’s three days, individuals attempt to seize wild horses with their naked arms and provide them to the gods.
The motion is quick and livid, and Monma says it’s critical enterprise for the riders participating.
“I feel like I’ve truly become a samurai,” he mentioned. “I feel more courageous, and on the day itself, my whole body and mind tighten.”
The Soma Nomaoi takes place round Minamisoma in Fukushima Prefecture.
It began round 1,000 years in the past and information recommend it has been held uninterrupted for not less than the final 400 years.
The festivities saved going even within the aftermath of a 2011 earthquake and tsunami that left over 18,000 individuals lifeless or lacking and brought about a devastating meltdown on the Fukushima nuclear plant.
Fumihiko Futakami, director of the Minamisoma City Museum, says the Soma Nomaoi was a supply of consolation when he was evacuated to Tokyo after the catastrophe.
“Even for people who have left here and now live elsewhere, when they think of their hometown, they think of mounted warriors,” he mentioned. “It’s the identity of our town.”
Uncertain future
The pageant’s warrior roots meant solely samurai may participate till the feudal system was abolished within the late nineteenth century.
Women had been admitted after World War II, and pageant veteran Monma fulfilled a lifelong dream when his two granddaughters joined him for this 12 months’s occasion.
It befell underneath cloudy skies, with the temperature hovering round a nice 18C.
There was little probability of a repeat of the 2023 Soma Nomaoi, when greater than 100 horses and dozens of individuals wanted remedy for heatstroke, and two animals died.
“There isn’t much shade anywhere, so I think this is the most comfortable temperature for everyone,” mentioned 25-year-old Haruto Inoue, who was visiting from close by Tochigi to look at the pageant for the primary time. “They look so cool in their samurai gear, racing through the mud and giving it everything they’ve got.”
Anyone can take part within the Soma Nomaoi, however proudly owning or hiring a horse just isn’t low cost.
The variety of individuals is steadily declining, and Japan’s getting old inhabitants is a significant factor.
Monma worries that the pageant may not survive one other 100 years except organizers can give you options.
Museum director Futakami believes shifting it away from the punishing summer season warmth has been a great begin.
“The horses are livelier and the participants aren’t so exhausted that they can barely move the next day,” he mentioned. “I think most people would say it’s been a good thing.”
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