Soma-Nomaoi is a festival that recreates a battle scene from more than 1,000 years ago. It is annually held for 4 days from July 22 to 25 in Haramachi City, Fukushima Prefecture, in the eastern part of Japan. In this historical event, 600 mounted samurai in traditional Japanese armor, with long swords at their side and ancestral flagstaffs streaming from their backs, ride across open fields. Soma-Nomaoi has been designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property.

Photo: A young woman (C) clad in samurai costume leads other local poeple as she rides her horse during a parade at the annual Soma Nomaoi festival in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, on July 28, 2012. The traditional full-scale festival kicked off for the first time after the accident of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant following the massive earthquake and the tsunami on March 11, 2011. (Photo by Toru Yamanaka/AFP Photo)

The main feature of the Mitsuyama Taisai Festival, three 18 meters tall “mountains”. are displayed at the Itate Hyozu Shrine on March 31, 2013 in Himeji, Japan. The festival is held once in 20 years since 1593, Priests of Itate Hyozu Shrine welcome to all the gods across the country for top of the three mountains and treat with food seven days from today as to pray for peace and prosperity. (Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe)

Actors Aubrey Plaza and Matthew Gray Gubler pose for a portrait during the 2014 Sundance Film Festival at the Getty Images Portrait Studio at the Village At The Lift on January 19, 2014 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Larry Busacca/AFP Photo)

A mahout (a person who rides an elephant) decorates his elephant using chalk while preparing for the Elephant Festival at Sauraha in Chitwan, south of Kathmandu, December 26, 2014. Elephants and mahouts from Chitwan will participate in the Elephant festival, which involves elephant races, elephants playing an exhibition soccer match and taking part in various other sporting activities. The event will start from 26 December and will end on 30 December, 2014. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

A man with a painted face and traditional costumes takes part in the Schleicherlaufen festival in the western Austrian town of Telfs February 1, 2015. (Photo by Dominic Ebenbichler/Reuters)

As a social experiment, journalist Esther Honig contacted Photoshop artists across the world and told them to make her beautiful, and they did. Honigh said she was surprised by how her image was altered, saying the process has greatly changed her perception of beauty. Photo: “Before & After” project: Greece. (Photo by Esther Honig)

People look at lighting artist Bruce Munro's latest installation “Field of Light” is seen in the grounds of the Holbourne Musuem on November 23, 2011 in Bath, England. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)