00:01It may not look it, but Moma Mizukio and his horse are getting ready for battle.
00:07I have been taking part for decades, but every year as the festival gets closer,
00:12I feel a kind of excitement. My passion starts to build.
00:15Moma is a long-time participant of the Soma no Maoi,
00:18an ancient samurai and horse festival on Japan's east coast.
00:24This is the 54th year the 69-year-old is taking part.
00:27And it's not easy getting dressed up as a samurai commander.
00:32On the day itself, I really become, in a sense, a samurai.
00:38The three-day event sees processions, horse racing, and blessings as Shinto shrines.
00:44And its roots run deep, having been held annually for over a thousand years.
00:52Until the Edo period, this was an event for warriors, for samurais.
00:56So naturally, only samurais were allowed to take part.
00:59But from the Meiji era, after the age of the samurais came to an end,
01:03people who had not originally been warriors were also able to participate.
01:08But it hasn't always been a smooth ride.
01:11The town lies about an hour north of the Fukushima power plant,
01:14and the community was hit hard by the 2011 earthquake and nuclear disaster.
01:21Horses were washed away by the tsunami.
01:23Houses were washed away as well.
01:25And then because of the nuclear accident, this whole area had to be evacuated.
01:29Even so, we still rode horses and held a short procession.
01:34But in recent years, organizers have faced a different challenge, climate change.
01:40Three years ago, during the hot season, two horses died from heat stroke, or rather, dehydration.
01:45And among the people taking part, I myself actually collapsed.
01:49I've had the chance to touch the horse equipment before, and it was extremely heavy.
01:54So I think that even just wearing or handling that in summer must take a lot of physical energy.
02:00Organizers decided to push the July festivities up to May,
02:04and the crowds are still showing up, attracting a wide audience.
02:10I think there are many people here who are not only locals,
02:13but also people who have simply come as tourists.
02:17I also think there are many people who became interested in horses through horse racing,
02:22and then thought they might come and see Soma no Maui.
02:25Despite the growing challenges, samurai like Mo Ma Mizukio still come out every year,
02:32making this unique festival not just a window into the past,
02:35but a tribute to the town's fighting spirit.
02:38John Tzu, Michael Reed, and Yvonne Yang for Taiwan Plus.
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