Samurai on horseback parade at festival in northeastern Japan

About 400 men and women wearing samurai armor have paraded through a city on horseback in a traditional festival in Japan's Fukushima Prefecture. The annual Soma Nomaoi festival is said to have a history of more than 1,000 years. It has been designated by the government as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property.

On Sunday, the second day of the three-day event, 386 people aged from 2 to 91 rode horses for about 2 kilometers in the center of Minamisoma City. Last year, the organizers dropped a condition that had limited participation to unmarried women under 20. This year's parade had 48 women riders.