Hadaka Matsuri (Naked Man Festival) ...

February 16th was Hadaka Matsuri (literal translation = Naked Man Festival) in a town called Saidaiji. I had heard a lot of hype about the festival and was a little curious myself, so a group of us booked tickets for the bus and prepared ourselves the best we could for what we were about to experience.

Here's what we knew beforehand:

- The festival would begin at midnight.

- It was going to be extremely cold.

- There would be hoards of crazed men wearing next to nothing.

- They would be 'dangerously fighting' for a 'spick' of some sort.

- This was one of the most famous festivals in Okayama prefecture and people would come from all over to take part, including a lot of gaijins (foreigners).

And that's about it. We dressed in about 25 layers of clothes, packed some drinks, loaded up on caffeine, found our hand warmers, and headed to the train station to find the bus station to begin the journey.

あまんだ (Amanda)　& 　たら (Tara)　are bus tripping professionals.

There were so many people in Saidaiji it was crazy. There were street vendors selling beer, sake, and lots of wonderful Japanese snacks (if you didn't pick up on the sarcasm, it was pretty heavy). We made our way towards the temple and before we knew what was going on we were bum rushed by a conglomerate of nearly naked, freezing, chanting men of all ages, shapes, sizes, and nationalities.

The men in the front carry the banner & some lanterns & they blow a whistle.

And it had begun. Over the next couple of hours, as we wandered around the area, the whistle would blow about every five minutes and we would have to clear a path for another 'group' or 'team' of men heading in to the temple. They ran through the streets clinging to each other while chanting something we couldn't understand as they prepared for their chance to fight for the 'spick'.

Their outfit, if I dare call it that, is technically referred to as a fundoshi, or traditional Japanese thong-like underwear, and there are actually men hired to dress the participants for the festival. What a job, eh?

Front view:

& from the back:

Some of our freezing friends.

While waiting for the shenanigans to begin, I ran into some of the teachers that I give lessons to. Good thing they found me in the crowd because I would have never been able to find them!

Ayaka, Yoko, Keiko, Naoko & yours truly.

It was slowly (very slowly) approaching midnight and we found our way in to the temple to get a good spot. It's a shame I'm so short because from our spot I couldn't see Jack Sprat. These pictures were taken with the camera held up in the air & pointed in the general direction.

There was some sort of purification by water ritual before the fight.

At midnight all of the lights went out & the, what I later learned to be called 'shingi' (not 'spick') fell from the top of the temple & the fight was on like a Monday Night Raw Royal Rumble.

The pictures are less than impressive, but you can get the idea.

It was pretty intense, even though I had no idea what was going on.

So the fighting continued for maybe 20 minutes and in the end someone obtained the holy object and the men cleared the temple and in under an hour there wasn't a soul around. Amanda & I know because we had some slight difficulties locating our bus (most definitely our own fault) and were close to being the last 2 people left in Saidaiji after the festival. Have no fear, we knew where we were (sort of) & took the train back to where we were going without any problems.

We then spent the evening hosting the out of town foreigners & showing them the best Okayama nightlife possible, although we don't have a huge night scene. It was a late night & by the time we got home in the morning, literally, the sun was up & Starbucks was open. Needless to say, I slept for an incredibly long time on Sunday. I'm good at that.

I have videos from the festival, but right now I am on break at work (that's right, I blog at work) & I don't have the vids with me. I'll put them up asap.

much love,

-たら-

xx