Hadaka matsuri – a celebration of naked men in Japan
It is difficult to find a country where there would be more strange holidays and festivals than in Japan. The fertility festival, based on the cult of the phallus, has become famous all over the world and each attracts tens of thousands of tourists. Hadaka matsuri, or the celebration of naked men, is a lesser-known event. Nevertheless, it deserves attention due to its entertainment and ... absurdity.
For an outsider who has nothing to do with Japanese culture, the crowd of naked men fighting near the temple looks funny. But in fact, everything that happens has a sacred meaning and is taken quite seriously by the participants of the event.
The Hadaka Matsuri Festival takes place on the third Saturday of February throughout Japan. But only in one place it acquires a serious scope and becomes spectacular. The city of Okayama, where this custom originated, can be considered the capital of the festival, and if you really watch it, then only here.
The tradition of the holiday of naked men originated in Okayama in 500 AD. It is connected with the custom of distributing certificates with blessings from the clergy. These documents testified to the end of the next year of ascetic training of priests. The letters were considered sacred, and their owner received happiness and good luck for a whole year.
There were a lot of people who wanted to get letters, and there was often a stampede and even fights. Paper certificates were sometimes torn to shreds. Because of this, the priests began to make these "letters of happiness" in the form of tablets, and later in the form of bamboo sticks.
The holiday is associated with the ritual of blessing, good luck and fertility. This is an exclusively male festival: only adult men are allowed to participate in it. According to beliefs, during Hadaka matsuri, a blessing descends on men, which contributes to luck, wealth and success on the personal front. In order to absorb the luck as much as possible, the festival participants strip naked.
Only small loincloths remain on men. However, some people take to the streets completely naked, because they believe that even these small rags prevent them from being fully charged with positive emotions. It's a strange sight — men gather in groups and converge to the temple. Along the way, they scream and jump, because it's very cold in February and you need to warm up somehow.
Another test awaits those gathered near the temple. They are doused with cold water, but no one thinks of leaving. All the hardships of Hadaka matsuri are perceived as a special purification ritual, before the main event. Exactly at midnight, when passions in the crowd of freezing naked men heat up to the limit, the main thing begins.
One of the priests throws 15 bamboo sticks tied together out of the window of the temple. These are the very letters that bring good luck, money and happiness. Everyone present wants to receive a relic and a real dump begins in the courtyard of the sanctuary.
Even the lucky one who grabbed the first letter should be on the alert. Hundreds of fellow Hadaka matsuri will immediately try to snatch happiness from their hands! Only those who managed to leave the temple courtyard with a wand can be calm. In this case, it is considered to belong entirely to the owner.