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)

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and U.S. President Donald Trump watch a woman carry a card announcing the rounds during a mixed martial arts fight in Madison Square Garden in New York, New York, U.S., November 2, 2019. (Photo by Joshua Roberts/Reuters)

An Iraqi Shi'ite boy poses for a photograph as Iraq Shi'ite Muslims commemorate Ashura in Baghdad, October 24, 2015. Ashura, which falls on the 10th day of the Islamic month of Muharram, commemorates the death of Imam Hussein, grandson of Prophet Mohammad, who was killed in the seventh century battle of Kerbala. (Photo by Ahmed Saad/Reuters)

Revellers take part in the annual Gay Pride parade along Paulista Avenue in Sao Paulo, Brazil, May 29, 2016. (Photo by Nacho Doce/Reuters)

In this Sunday, April 6, 2014 photo, Valery Palma prepares to blow out the candle on a birthday cake for her one-year-old dachshund Camila, at Camila's birthday party in Mexico City. Palma, who has two dogs, spent $300 on the birthday party for 11 canines and 16 people, complete with cake, presents and snacks, at a dog hotel featuring a gym and massage and aromatherapy services. (Photo by Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo)

A photographer has created a series of paw-traits of hungry dogs pulling hilarious faces as they try and catch treats. Using a unique technique, the shots are captured at the exact moment the adorable pooches attempt to catch an airborne piece of food. The dogs appear surprised, happy, sad, confused – and sometimes even so blasé they miss the treat entirely. The images were taken by Christian Vieler, a photographer from Waltrop, Germany. Here: A labrador retriever. (Photo by Christian Vieler/Caters News)

Keep your eyes peeled: A Chinese teenager slipped and stabbed himself in the face with a 7cm knife while peeling an apple. Ren Hanzhi's father recalled: “He was walking to the sofa while peeling the apple. Suddenly he slipped down and his face hit onto the sharp knife. I dared not pull out the knife as my son was screaming”. The nearest hospital referred the 13-year-old to a larger unit. Chief surgeon Peng Liwei, who operated to remove the knife, commented: “It's shocking. The knife, which is more than 20cm long, penetrated 7cm into his face. The surgery was successful and the patient could recover fully in around a month”. (Photo by Rex Features)

German flying ace Baron Manfred von Richthofen (1892–1918) also known as The Red Baron with his dog Moritz, circa 1916.