MINAMISOMA, Fukushima -- A fashion designer in this Fukushima Prefecture city, home of the Soma Nomaoi festival featuring horsemen clad in samurai armor, has developed a face mask resembling traditional facial armor -- the perfect fit for a warrior on horseback.

       Designer Yuji Miyamori wears the Samurai Mask resembling menbo face armor in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, on July 1, 2021. (The helmet is not for sale.) (Mainichi/Shuji Ozaki)

       Dubbed "Samurai Mask," the product was developed by Yuji Miyamori, 38. He hit on the idea after pondering what kind of mask would suit a person in armor together with an acquaintance who appears as a horseman in the festival each year. When he began selling the product at the end of June, orders flooded in from around the country, he said.

       The mask is made from two layers of linen and has a three-dimensional design whose contours go around the nose and mouth like a menbo -- armor that covered the face from the nose to the chin.

       Miyamori is involved in the production and sale of the original clothing brand "Arty Jungle," in Minamisoma's Haramachi area, and he designed the mask during a chat with an acquaintance. After a period of trial and error while comparing the mask to a real menbo, he managed to commercialize the product within a few months.

       "Orders came in online from far away, and I've learned that there are many people who put on armor for traditional events and so on. The masks are designed for everyday use as well, so I hope many people will take an interest in them," he said.

       Most of the official events of this summer's Soma Nomaoi festival will be held without spectators. Horse-riding warriors in the festival will be required to wear masks in principle unless they can maintain a distance of at least 1 meter from other participants.

       The newly designed masks cost 1,760 yen (about $16) each, and come in three colors: natural (undyed linen), black, and dark red. They are being sold through the online retail site https://samuraimask.official.ec/

       (Japanese original by Shuji Ozaki, Minamisoma Local Bureau)

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