Northern Japan · Fukushima · Minamisōma

Sōma Nomaoi

相馬野馬追

Some four hundred mounted samurai in armour, ancestral banners on their backs, race across an open field.

29–31 May 2027

212 days away

Every year, the last Monday of May, minus 2 days, for 3 days

Future dates: 29 May 2027 · 27 May 2028 · 26 May 2029

Origin

By the organisers’ account, it goes back to Taira no Masakado, held to be a forebear of the Sōma clan, who released wild horses on a plain in Shimōsa — the north-west of today’s Chiba — and drilled his troops by treating them as the enemy, offering the horses he caught to the clan’s guardian deity, Myōken. The Sōma lords kept it up after the clan moved north, and in the Edo period the domain laid out a horse pasture on the plain; today’s Hibarigahara ground is part of it. When the domains ended in the Meiji era, it continued as the festival of the three Sōma shrines to Myōken. It is an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property. For generations it was held in July; because of the toll of rising summer heat on riders and horses, it moved to May in 2024.

What to look for

Each of the three days is different. On the first, the riders set out from their home districts — the o-kuridashi, or sallying-out — and an evening race is run at the ground. The second day is the centre. More than four hundred riders escort the shrines’ portable shrines along Nomaoi-dōri in the o-gyōretsu, the grand procession; then, at Hibarigahara, come the katchū keiba, horse races run in full armour, and the shinki sōdatsusen, in which hundreds of riders fight for two sacred banners fired into the sky. On the third day, at Sōma Odaka Shrine, comes the nomakake: men in white headbands and white robes drive in the horses, catch one bare-handed, and offer it to the deity.

How to watch

The organisers ask spectators not to cross in front of the horses or through the procession; not to look down on the procession from above; not to stand behind a horse; not to use flash on the horses; and not to startle them by reaching out suddenly or shouting. Drones and selfie sticks are not allowed. If it rains, wear a raincoat rather than put up an umbrella.

If you go

To watch the armoured races and the banner contest at Hibarigahara on the second day, you need a ticket (free unreserved seating for those of junior-high age and under). The ground is a natural grassy slope, so bring something to sit on and shoes you can walk in. The events are spread across Sōma, Minamisōma and Namie; the third day’s nomakake is in Odaka, in Minamisōma. It goes ahead in rain but may be called off if a weather warning is issued. The nearest station is Haranomachi, in Minamisōma, about three and a half hours from Tokyo by limited express on the Jōban Line.

Where

Hibarigahara Festival Ground

Minamisōma, Fukushima

Open in maps

Sources

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