Soma Onsen Extended

Soma, on the Pacific coast of northern Fukushima Prefecture, is home to the Soma Nomaoi — one of Japan's three great mounted festivals, a spectacular samurai cavalry event held each July when hundreds of horsemen in full Heian-period battle armour compete in ancient equestrian rites honoring the cavalry tradition of the Soma clan lords who ruled this northern Fukushima coastal domain for five centuries. Soma Onsen Extended draws on chloride-rich coastal thermal waters from the marine geological formations of the northern Fukushima Pacific coast, offering warming maritime baths in a city whose deep samurai and equestrian heritage creates a uniquely theatrical historical atmosphere along the rugged Hamadori coastal plain. The Soma Nomaoi Festival's thundering cavalry charges, the traditional horse-rearing culture of the Soma plain that has persisted since feudal times, and the fresh Pacific seafood of the Hamadori fishing ports recovering with remarkable resilience after the 2011 tsunami create a destination of extraordinary historical and human drama on the Fukushima coast.