Soma Nomaoi

Japanese: 相馬野馬追 - そうまのまおい

This is an event held in conjunction with the joint annual festival of the three Soma shrines (Nakamura Shrine, Ota Shrine, and Odaka Shrine) in northeastern Fukushima Prefecture. It is a heroic festival in which over 500 armored mounted warriors gather from the five areas of the Soso region, known as the Five Districts of Utago (Soma City), Kitago, Nakanogo, Odakago (Minamisoma City), and Shibago (Futaba County), and compete on horseback. It was designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan in 1978.
Its origins date back more than a thousand years, when Taira no Masakado, the ancestor of the Soma clan who ruled this area until the Meiji Restoration, conducted military exercises in which wild horses were likened to enemies. It is said that it was originally held on the day of the monkey in May, and has continued to this day despite being in danger of being abolished and undergoing schedule changes several times. In recent years it has been held from July 23rd to 25th, but since 2011 it has been changed to the last Saturday, Sunday and Monday of July.
At the evening festival on the first day, warriors gather at the three shrines and, after a marching ceremony, head to the festival grounds, where they put on traditional horse gear and take part in a horse race known as "Yoi-nori." The main festival on the second day begins with a "procession," in which armored mounted warriors ride decorated horses in formation and head to the festival grounds. This is followed by the "Armor Horse Race," in which bare-helmeted mounted warriors gallop while waving flags, and the "Sacred Flag Battle," in which mounted warriors compete to grab a sacred flag that has been set off in a firework. On the third day, there is the ritual of "Nomagake," in which a bare horse is herded into the grounds of Odaka Shrine and captured with bare hands and dedicated to the shrine.
The 2011 festival was in jeopardy due to the effects of the Great East Japan Earthquake, but it will go ahead with some events as a symbol of repose and reconstruction. Of the three Soma shrines, Odaka Shrine is in a restricted area, and Ota Shrine is in an emergency evacuation preparation area within a 20-30 km radius of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

(Writer: Hidemi Harada / 2011)

Source : "Chiezo" published by Asahi Shimbun Publications Co., Ltd. About Chiezo

Japanese:

福島県北東部の相馬3社(中村神社、太田神社、小高神社)の合同例祭に合わせて行われる行事。宇多郷(相馬市)、北郷、中ノ郷、小高郷(南相馬市)、標葉郷(双葉郡)の相双地方の5郷と呼ばれる地域一帯から、500騎余りの甲冑(かっちゅう)姿の騎馬武者が集まり、馬を走らせ競い合う勇壮な祭り。1978年、国の重要無形民俗文化財に指定された。
起源は千年以上も前、明治維新までこの地を治めてきた相馬氏の祖とされる平将門が、野馬を敵に見立てて軍事演習を行ったことに始まるという。古くは5月の申の日に行われていたといい、何度か廃絶の危機や日程変更を伴いながら現在まで続いている。近年は7月23～25日に行われてきたが、2011年から7月最終の土、日、月曜開催に変更された。
1日目の宵祭りは、3社に集合した武者が出陣式の後、祭場地に向かい、古式馬具をつけて「宵乗り」と呼ばれる競馬を行う。2日目の本祭りは、装飾された馬に甲冑姿で乗る騎馬武者が隊列を組んで祭場地に向かう「お行列」で始まる。続いて、兜(かぶと)を脱いだ騎馬武者が旗指物をなびかせながら疾走する「甲冑競馬」、打ち上げ花火に仕込んだ神旗を騎馬武者が奪い合う「神旗争奪戦」が繰り広げられる。3日目は、小高神社境内に追い込んだ裸馬を素手で捕らえて奉納する「野馬懸(のまがけ)」の神事がある。
11年は、東日本大震災の影響で開催が危ぶまれたが、鎮魂と復興のシンボルとして一部の行事のみ実施する。相馬3社のうち、小高神社は立ち入り禁止の警戒区域に、太田神社は福島第一原子力発電所から半径20～30キロメートル圏内の緊急時避難準備区域にある。

(原田英美　ライター／ 2011年)

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