Picture it: Naked men in a 9,000-way wrestling match. It’s called the Hadaka Matsuri, it means “the Naked Festival,” and not even I could make this puppy up.
The largest of all these festivals is in Okayama, about 90 miles west of Japan’s second city, Osaka. There are few events in the world that put so much male flesh on display at once more than this one. Falling on the third Sunday of every February, 9,000 (give or take) young, strapping Japanese men of Okayama strip down to their “fundoshi,” the traditional Japanese loincloth that does wonders to show off the buttocks, head over to the Saidai-ji Temple, and duke it out for a pair of sacred sticks, called Shingi, thrown into the seething pool of man-skin by the priest from a window overlooking the temple arena.
Now, before you get ahead of yourself, know that the Hadaka Matsuriis not a gay event in any way, shape, or form. Like all festivals in Japan, the Hadaka reaches deep, 500 years deep in this case, into Japan’s sacred cultural landscape. It is basically a good-luck competition, and there are hundreds of them all over the country throughout the year. Any man lucky enough to get the Shingi and then successfully battle the other 8,999 participants to get them to the Masu, a blessed wooden box filled with rice, gets a year of good fortune and happiness bestowed by the gods themselves.
They just have to be all but naked to it. It symbolizes not only purity, but also peaceful intentions (no hidden weapons). And keep a close eye: it isn’t that uncommon for at least a few of the participants to be 100% nude.
Now, personally, I think that demanding men strip down to their skivvies in the dead of winter is a tad exacting on the part of the gods of the Japanese pantheon, but that’s just me. Here is how it all goes down: Just before midnight, and shouting out “Wasshoi! Wasshoi!”, a whole fleet of just-about-naked men troop though Okayama on their way to the temple, and they are so worked up that they are actually splashed with water by priests. In winter. Ack. Anyhoo, they all make their way to the inner sanctum of the Saidai-ji, crowd in, and then, just before the Shingi are thrown in, to really make it fun, the lights are turned out. You can only imagine what happens next.
Not interested in a naked scrum? As it turns out, spectators are allowed (for a fee) a vantage point overlooking the free-for-all, and although one must wonder exactly how much one can see in pitch darkness, it isn’t unheard of for the lights not to be turned out completely, just dimmed to within an inch of total blackness.
Cameras, so you know, are allowed. Steele Luxury Travel has heavily discounted first and business class flights to Japan. Steele can also arrange a complete itinerary including great hotels during your stay in Japan. Visit www.steeletravel.comfor more information!
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