Wonderful bike & train tour in Fukushima 福島大好きおじさんの自転車・鉄道旅日記 Nomakake, the last event for Soma-nomaoi Festival at Odaka, July 29, 2019. （野馬懸、相馬野馬追の最後の日です、2019年7月29日。）

Nomakake, the last event for Soma-nomaoi Festival at Odaka, July 29, 2019. （野馬懸、相馬野馬追の最後の日です、2019年7月29日。）

（Driving a bare horse at Nomakake, Odaka, July 29, 2019. 野馬懸の野馬追小高 7/29/2019）
Today I was one of the large spectators at Nomakake, the last day event for 3-day Soma-nomaoi Festival in Soma region. Nomakake retains the very original style of the Soma-nomaoi, which was originated in military exercise in 900’s started by ancestors of Soma clan. At that time, wild horses were released as mock enemy. Today, three unsaddled horses were once released, one at a time, and then several mounted horsemen drove the horse into a corral in front of Soma Odaka Shrine. After all the three horses were driven into the corral, then several men, called Okobito, wearing white Shinto clothing and headband tried to catch the horses with their bare hands. Once the horse was captured, then it was offered to the shrine, where guardian god for Soma clan was enshrined. Photo above shows a horseman leading a bare white horse along a slope toward the corral.
本日は、相馬野馬追の最後のイベント、野馬懸を見ました。野馬懸は、900年代に相馬家の祖先が始めた相馬野馬追の原型を残している行事です。当時、軍事訓練で野馬を敵に見立てたのが始まりです。今日では、3頭の野馬が1頭ずつ放たれ、騎馬武者達が小高神社前の敷地に追い込みます。そのあと、白装束と白はちまきをした「御小人」達が、素手で野馬を捕まえようとします。捕らえられた馬は、相馬家の氏神が祀られている神社に奉納されます。写真は、騎馬武者が白い野馬を導いて坂を登る姿です。

（Conch shell horn blowers at Nomakake, Odaka, July 29, 2019. 野馬懸のホラ貝吹き小高 7/29/2019）
Right before the horse driving began, conch shell horn blowers, as shown above, came in the middle of the slope to signal a start. You may see the closer view of the conch shell here.
馬の追い込みが始まる直前には、写真のように、ホラ貝吹きが坂の中間にきて、合図の準備をします。ホラ貝の形がよく見えます。

After the bare horse led by a mounted horseman, several chaser horsemen followed, as shown above, running up the hill.
野馬の後には、写真のように、数人の騎馬武者が追って駆け上がってきます。

By watching a short footage below, you may feel the atmosphere of the scene of driving a horse up the hill. This was of the second horse drive.
下の極短いビデオを見ると、野馬を追い込むシーンの雰囲気が少しわかると思います。
これは、2番目の野馬でした。

In the last drive, an unsaddled horse chased by mounted horsemen from behind barely crashed into spectators’ area as shown above. (No one was injured.)
最後の野馬の場合は、写真のように見物客の極近くまで迫り、危ういところでした。（問題ありませんでした。）

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（Chasing bare horses at Nomakake, Odaka, July 29, 2019. 野馬懸の野馬追小高 7/29/2019）
Photo above was a scene that three horses driven into the field in front of the shrine are trying to escape from Okobito men in white shrine suits trying to catch them.
写真は、3頭の野馬が神社前の囲い敷地で、白装束の「御小人」達に捕まえられないように、逃げている場面です。

And here is a very short video that a young Okobito man tried to catch a horse but finally failed at this time. You may feel the atmosphere.
下の極短いビデオでは、1人の御小人が野馬を捕らえかけましたが、最後は失敗しました。雰囲気がわかると思います。

During the first and second days of Soma-nomaoi Festival, I attended a group as a translator. But the last day was free and I stayed overnight there and visited this event for the first time. The event venue was Soma Odaka Shrine which was located 20-minute walk from JR Odaka Station.
相馬野馬追の最初の2日は、あるグループの通訳ガイドでした。しかし、最終日はフリーとなり野馬懸を初めて見ました。会場は、JR小高駅から徒歩20分の相馬小高神社です。
（お客の数は、前日より減りましたが、会場ぎっしりでした。）

The exact route and locations are shown in the map below. The map can be scaled up and down with a click and scroll. GPS data for a part of the section from Odaka Station was missing due to slow detection of my GPS device, so I added a line on the map.
ルートと場所は、下の地図を参照ください。地図は、クリックとスクロールで、拡大・縮小が可能です。但し、小高駅から少しの間、GPSデータが無く（機械の反応が遅く）地図上に線で補足しました。