The 5 Best Events in Fukushima Prefecture, Tohoku

This horseback event goes back over 1,000 years and has been designated an important intangible folk culture asset. Three "units" are formed from the regions respectively associated with each of the Sanmyoken shrines (Somanaka Mura Shrine, Soma Ota Shrine, and Soma Odaka Shrine). Then, on the first day, the night festival sees a traditional parade from the horseriders and a race. On the second day, a 3km retinue parades around, and there are armored battles on horseback. In the main festival event, the pennants thrust into the sky loom large as each team tries to capture the others' flags. For the third day, horseriders lead bare horses into a bamboo enclosure in the shrine grounds, and a small jockey dressed in white performs a feat of capturing running horses with his bare hands. The horses are considered a "gift" to the shrine, and these various events are believed to be the origin of votive pictures donated at shrines, as those plaques originally bore images of horses.

Held every summer in Sukagawa City, this is one of the largest fireworks displays in Fukushima Prefecture. Set on the banks of the Shakado River, which flows through the city, the festival features the launching of roughly 10,000 fireworks. The highlight of the festival is the vivid colors reflected on the surface of the Shakado River when many jumbo star mines are floating in the sky overhead. The festival is full of moments worth seeing, such as creative musical fireworks and music fire (both of which are marvelously synchronized with music) and waterfall fireworks where droplets of light flow downward like a waterfall, and the keen competition among famous pyrotechnicians in launching splendid No. 10 Ball fireworks evokes cheers from the spectators.

The Iwaki Onahama Port Fireworks, boasting more than 60 years of history, features the launching of 10,000 fireworks. The main attraction is the elaborately programmed creative fireworks that are set off in coordination with the latest musical hits or nostalgic film tunes of years gone by. The many magnificent fireworks launched into the sky over Onahama Port captivate the crowds below.