Hadaka Matsuri: More than ten thousand people celebrated annual naked festival in Japan

Monday, February 17, 2020

More than ten thousand men stripped off to take part in “Hadaka Matsuri”, an annual naked festival in Japan‘s Honshu Island. The loincloth-clad competitors gathered at the Saidaiji Temple in Okayama Prefecture for the event to celebrate prosperity and fertility.

The aim of this festival was to snatch one of two 20cm-long “shingi” wooden sticks thrown by a priest into the crowd.

The sticks, thrown among 100 bundles of twigs, are meant to bring a year of good fortune to whoever is lucky enough to catch them. Similar naked festivals are held throughout Japan every year, as part of a tradition that is said to stretch back 500 years. This annual event also includes bathing in cold water for an hour or two to purify the soul.

The festival celebrates the blessings of a bountiful harvest, prosperity and fertility. It starts at around 3:20 p.m local time with a separate event for young boys — aimed at fostering interest in younger generations. In the evening, the men spend an hour or two running around the temple grounds in preparation and purify themselves with freezing cold water, before cramming themselves into the main temple building.

When the lights go out at 10 p.m., a priest throws 100 bundles of twigs and two lucky 20-centimeter-long shingi sticks into the crowd from a window four meters above.

That’s when the commotion begins. The 10,000 or so men, packed in like sardines, jostle with each other to get hold of one of the bundles and/or the two sticks. Whoever succeeds is guaranteed a year of good fortune, according to legend.

The shingi are more sought after than the less-coveted twigs, which can be taken home. The whole event lasts around 30 minutes and participants emerge with a few cuts, bruises and sprained joints.

The visitors come from all across Japan and a few from abroad to take part. Some attend the event alone, but many participants join as part of teams representing local businesses.

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