Year of the horse and disaster

January 4, 2014

In year of the horse, Fukushima local looks to horse festival to catch public attention

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20140105p2a00m0na002000c.html 

MINAMISOMA, Fukushima -- In 2014, the year of the horse on the Chinese zodiac, one local here is hoping a traditional horse festival can reignite wavering public interest in disaster-stricken areas.

Under a blue sky at the Fukono Nakayama Training Center, a horse named "Dragon Screw" ran in preparation for the Soma Nomaoi traditional horse festival that takes place in the region in July. The animal was originally to become a racehorse before it broke its right hind leg.

The center's representative, Isao Sato, 60, watched Dragon Screw practice. Sato is concerned both by a drop in public interest in areas hit by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, and by the continued exodus of people from the area due to the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant disaster.

"I hope that the Soma Nomaoi events will make this year one in which people do not forget the disasters or Fukushima," he said.