FUKUSHIMA, May 25, 2026 (News On Japan) - A runaway horse collided with spectators during the traditional Soma Nomaoi festival in Fukushima Prefecture on May 24th, injuring six people, after the rider fell off during the race, causing the animal to bolt into the crowd.
The incident occurred at around 12:50 p.m. during the armored horse racing event, one of the main attractions of the historic festival, which began on May 23rd in the Soma and Futaba regions of Fukushima Prefecture.
The horse was later secured, but six people, including spectators and staff members, were injured in the collision, with three taken to hospital.
None of the injuries are believed to be life-threatening.
Soma Nomaoi, known for its samurai-style horseback events such as the “armored horse race” and the “sacred flag competition,” drew around 40,000 visitors to the venue.
Soma Nomaoi is one of Japan’s oldest equestrian festivals, with a history said to stretch back more than 1,000 years to Taira no Masakado, the 10th-century warrior regarded as an ancestor of the Soma clan. According to tradition, Masakado released wild horses on the plains of Shimosa Province, in present-day Chiba Prefecture, and had mounted warriors pursue them as military training, before captured horses were offered to a shrine as sacred animals.
The ritual was later carried north after the Soma clan established itself in what is now the Soma region of Fukushima Prefecture during the medieval period. Successive Soma lords preserved the event through the end of the feudal era, developing it into a display of horsemanship, military organization and clan identity.
Following the Meiji Restoration, when the old samurai domains were abolished, the festival faced the risk of disappearing as a warrior-clan ceremony. It survived by being reorganized as a religious festival connected with three Soma shrines: Soma Nakamura Shrine, Soma Ota Shrine and Soma Odaka Shrine.
The modern Soma Nomaoi is held over three days and features hundreds of riders wearing samurai armor and carrying ancestral banners. Its best-known events include the armored horse race, in which riders gallop around the Hibarigahara grounds, and the sacred flag competition, in which horsemen scramble to capture shrine flags launched into the air. The final day traditionally includes the Nomagake ritual, in which unmounted horses are driven into a shrine precinct and one is captured and offered ceremonially.
Soma Nomaoi was designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan in 1978, recognizing its significance as a surviving expression of Japan’s equestrian and samurai traditions. The festival has continued through periods of upheaval, including in a reduced form after the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disaster, when it became an important symbol of cultural continuity and regional recovery.
From 2024, the festival was moved from its traditional midsummer schedule to late May in response to concerns over extreme summer heat affecting both riders and horses. In 2026, the event continued to attract large crowds, with about 40,000 spectators attending the venue for its major horseback displays.
Source: FNN
