La Jornada: Samurai riders festival survives despite wars, earthquakes and climate crisis

In Japan, the ancient festival of samurai riders has survived wars, earthquakes and even a nuclear disaster. Now it faces a new challenge: climate change.

He Soma Nomaoi It began as a way to train warriors. A thousand years later, the aesthetic is the same: riders dressed in samurai armor performing competitions on horseback.

Until 2024, the festival was held in the middle of summer, but rising temperatures caused participants and spectators to collapse and horses to die from heat stroke.

Due to these situations, the organizers moved the festival to the end of May, when the weather is cooler.

Mitsukiyo Monma, who has participated in the event for 54 years, told AFP that the change gave new life to the festival.

“You have to wear a kimono under your armor, which is not the same as going out in a T-shirt during the summer,” said the 69-year-old, who required medical attention one day when the temperature touched 40 degrees.

“The clothes are so soaked that the sweat can drain,” he said.

“When the festival moved to May, it was the first time I was able to drink hot coffee before going out.”

Scientists point out that climate change causes extreme weather events to become more frequent and severe. Temperatures around the world have increased in recent years.

Last year, Japan recorded its hottest summer since records began in 1898.

The Japanese meteorological agency even created an official designation for days over 40 degrees, which it calls “cruelly hot.”

Such conditions complicate the Soma Nomaoiwhose participants compete on horseback with 25 kilo samurai armor.

The main event begins with races around an oval track, where runners carry giant flags on their backs.

Hundreds of riders gather on a large grass field and compete to grab colorful flags that they throw into the sky.

On the last of the three days of the festival, participants try to catch wild horses with their hands and offer them to the gods.

This action is done at high speed. Monma assures that it is difficult for the participants.

“I feel like I have become a real samurai. I feel braver, and on the day itself, my whole body and mind become tense,” the rider explained.

He Soma Nomaoi It takes place near Minamisoma, almost 300 kilometers north of Tokyo.

It began about a thousand years ago and records suggest that it has been celebrated without interruption for at least the last four centuries.

It was celebrated even after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that left more than 18,000 dead or missing and caused a devastating accident at the Fukushima nuclear plant.

Fumihiko Futakami, director of the Minamisoma City Museum, says that the Soma Nomaoi was a relief for him after being evacuated to Tokyo after that disaster.

“Even for people who have left here and now live somewhere else, when they remember their hometown they think of the warriors on horseback,” he said. “It is the identity of our people.”

Uncertain future

Originally only samurai could participate, until the feudal system was abolished at the end of the 19th century.

Women were admitted after World War II. Monma was able to see his dream come true when his two granddaughters accompanied him in this year’s competitions.

It happened under a cloudy sky, with pleasant temperatures of 18 degrees.

Instead, in the Soma Nomaoi By 2023, more than 100 horses and dozens of people required treatment for heat stroke and two animals died.

“There isn’t much shade, so I think this is the most comfortable temperature for everyone,” said Haruto Inoue, 25, who came from neighboring Tochigi to witness the festival for the first time.

“They look so cool in their samurai outfit, running through the mud and giving it their all,” he added.

Everyone can participate in the Soma Nomaoibut owning or renting a horse is not cheap.

The number of participants has declined, partly due to the aging of the population.

Monma fears the festival will not survive another 100 years unless organizers come up with solutions.

Museum director Futakami believes moving it away from summer is a good start.

“The horses are more animated and the participants are not so exhausted that they could barely move the next day,” he said.

“I think for most people it has been positive.”