One of the most fascinating things to see and do in a foreign country is to take part in a local festival. Naked Man Festival! This literal translation hits the nail on the head. Among the twenty—thousand male participants, I was one of only few foreigners.
Saidaiji Hadaka Matsuri (Naked Man Festival) | Okayama Attractions | Travel Japan | JNTO
If you continue to browse Cookie Policy for more information. Use the. The Saidaiji Eyo Hadaka Matsuri in Okayama is a raucous festival all about luck and happiness, in which a crowd of thousands of nearly naked men jostle for lucky objects tossed by priests in the cold of late February. The festival evolved from a ritual started years ago, when worshippers competed to catch paper talismans called Go-o thrown by a priest at Saidaiji Kannon-in Temple. These tokens marked the completion of New Year ascetic training by the priests.
Registered in Ireland: Did you go for 9, men in white loin cloths fighting it out over bundles of incense by any chance? People from all over the country travel to Okayama City every February to strip down and take part in Hadaka Matsuri. Lucky sacred sticks — called shingi — are thrown into the crowd from the roof of the Saidaji Kannon-in Temple by a priest.
By Kelly Mclaughlin For Mailonline. Dressed in only white loincloths, 10, men gathered at a Japanese temple over the weekend to scramble for a pair of lucky sticks. The men shoved each other for more than an hour on Saturday night in hopes of retrieving the lucky batons, thrown by a priest into the crowd. The sacred batons - measuring 4cm in diameter and 20cm in length - are believed to bring good luck for an entire year to whoever catches them.