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A Hadaka Matsuri (裸祭り, 'Naked Festival') is a type of Japanese festival, or matsuri, in which participants wear a minimum amount of clothing; usually just a fundoshi loincloth, sometimes with a short happi coat, and rarely completely naked.
Naked festivals are held in dozens of places throughout Japan every year, usually in the summer or winter.
Konomiya
| Konomiya Hadaka Matsuri | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Observed by | Japan |
| Type | Religious |
| Date | twelfth day of the first month of the Chinese calendar |
| 2024 date | 22 February |
| 2025 date | 10 February |
| 2026 date | 1 March |
| 2027 date | 18 February |
| Frequency | annual |
One of the biggest and oldest festivals is the Owari Ōkunitama Shrine Hadaka Matsuri held in Inazawa, where the festival originated over 1300 years ago. Every year, men participate in this festival in hopes of gaining luck for the entire year. The most famous part of the festival is when the shin-otoko (神男) enter the stage and has to find a way back to the shrine, called naoiden. The participating men must try and touch the shin-otoko to transfer their bad luck to him. During the night time ceremony, all the bad luck is transferred in a charcoal coloured giant mochi. The black mochi is made with rice mixed with the ashes of the burned Omamori from last year. The mochi is then buried in a secret location in the nearby forest.
The men participating only wear a fundoshi and tabi.
The festival has been regarded as off-limits to women since it was first held in the town about 1,250 years ago, but organisers have allowed a group of about 40 women to take part on 22 February 2024
Saidaiji
| Saidaiji Hadaka Matsuri | |
|---|---|
 Participants receiving purification by water at the naked festival at Saidaiji in Okayama. | |
| Observed by | Japan |
| Type | Religious |
| Significance | Celebrates the blessings of a bountiful harvest and all manner of prosperity and fertility |
| Date | Third Saturday in February |
| 2024 date | February 17 (2024-02-17) |
| 2025 date | February 15 (2025-02-15) |
| 2026 date | February 21 (2026-02-21) |
| 2027 date | February 20 (2027-02-20) |
| Frequency | annual |
The most famous festival is the Saidai-ji Eyo Hadaka Matsuri held in Okayama, where the festival originated over 500 years ago. Every year, over 9,000 men participate in this festival in hopes of gaining luck for the entire year.
See also
References
- "Konomiya Hadaka Matsuri (Naked Festival of Owari Okunitama Shrine)". Aichi Tourism. 24 February 2021. Archived from the original on 12 September 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
- McCurry, Justin (25 January 2024). "Women in Japan allowed to take part in 'naked festival' for first time". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
- "Near-naked Japanese men scramble for 'lucky sticks'". BBC News. 17 February 2019. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
- "Saidai-ji Eyo Hadaka Matsuri". Japan National Tourism Organization. Archived from the original on 18 June 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
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