NIIGATA, May 27 — The 27th national bullfighting summit was held on May 26 in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, with 28 bulls clashing their horns at the Yamakoshi Bullfighting Arena before an audience of some 1,100 people.
Nagaoka Mayor Tatsunobu Isoda, who heads the event’s organizing council, said, “It is 20 years since the entire population of the village of Yamakoshi was evacuated following the (2004) Niigata Chuetsu Earthquake. We want to show how the area has been restored by the passion of the local community and those who provided support so that we can offer strong hope to people in other disaster-hit areas.”
The village of Yamakoshi became part of Nagaoka in 2005.
The council’s general meeting was held before the bullfights, with 70 people involved in bullfighting attending from six prefectures — Iwate, Niigata, Shimane, Ehime, Kagoshima and Okinawa.
They discussed such issues as how to secure successors and more bullfighting fans.
They adopted a summit declaration on future missions including handing down the culture of bullfighting to the next generation, revitalizing local areas and conducting exchanges among related organizations.
The next summit is scheduled to be held in Uruma, Okinawa Prefecture, in fiscal 2025.
Attendants of the national bullfighting summit watch the bulls wrestle with their horns in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture.