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Asahi Shimbun

1,000-year-old horse riding festival throws out gender rules

Miwa Hosokawa, center, holds the sacred flag in her mouth after capturing it during a May 25 event that took place at this year's Soma-Nomaoi in Fukushima Prefecture. (Wataru Sekita) MINAMI-SOMA, Fukushima Prefecture—Eight women were among a multitude of entrants who rode in the 'Soma-Nomaoi' (Soma wild horse chase) festival, an annual three-day event that dates back around 1,000 years. This year's large turnout was the result of the festival eliminating rule restrictions exclusive to female participants for the first time ever. Previously, only unmarried women under 20 were allowed in the saddle. Miwa Hosokawa, 39, was able to join for the first time since she was 19 and wore a traditional "jinbaori" samurai surcoat at the May 24 opening ceremony. The surcoat had been sewn by her mother, Tamiko, who passed away two years ago. Hosokawa also battled other riders in a May 25 event where each fought to capture a sacred flag as it fell back toward earth after being shot into the sky with fireworks. The crowd of about 35,000 fans roared their approval when she caught the flag and Hosokawa broke down in tears. 'I feel my mother was looking down on me,' she said. 'I hope the (relaxed conditions) will allow more women to take part in order to preserve this traditional event.' After the decision was made in February to do away with the age restriction for women, 31-year-old Ayano Uehara, who works for the Soma city government, began taking horse riding lessons so she could join the Soma-Nomaoi. She had been helping support the festival as a city government employee until last year. Seeing a man who was a former classmate taking part sparked Uehara's interest in participating. For her first festival, Uehara chose to ride in the parade through city streets with riders dressed in samurai attire rather than enter one of the competitions. 'Based on this experience, I want to think about what is needed to hand down the traditional event,' she said. Uehara added that in future years she wants to participate in the event to capture the sacred flag and another where entrants race around a track dressed in samurai armor. Hosokawa, meanwhile, had decided to solely concentrate on the flag capturing event because she felt the race was too physically demanding. The rule change also means more potential for Hosokawa's life outside the festival. While she has a common-law husband, she has not formally married because of the now-defunct condition that only single women can sign up. 'With the single woman condition also eliminated, I want to think about marriage after things settle down a bit,' she said.