Soma-Nomaoi Horse Festival
Photo Exhibition by Tadashi Kumagai & Mayumi Takahashi
Main Bar and Masukomi Sushi
March 1 - April 4, 2014
In June 2011, 3 months after the Great East Japan Earthquake, we met horses that had been rescued from the tsunami and areas around the Fukushima Nuclear Reactors. They were being fed and cared for at the Soma Nakamura Jinja. Historically, it is the location for the 1,000-year-old Soma-Nomaoi Horse Festival, but at that time the shrine was the center for relief operations in Fukushima. This was the beginning of our documentary on these proud horses whose lives had been uprooted by the disaster.
One year after the earthquake and nuclear accident, the Soma-Nomaoi Festival was revived. In the heat of July, about 400 horseback riders dressed in samurai armor engaged in the races and mock cavalry battles. This annual event is the heart and soul of Soma and Minami-Soma people. We have been documenting the festival since its resumption and will be there again this year. Cheering the horses and their riders, we pray for the area's speedy recovery.
Photographers Tadashi Kumagai / www.stbears.com/kuma
Mayumi Takahashi / www.heartfulphoto.com
The Exhibitions Committee