This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Hadaka Matsuri" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(February 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
AHadaka Matsuri (裸祭り,'Naked Festival') is a type ofJapanese festival, ormatsuri, in which participants wear a minimum amount of clothing; usually just afundoshiloincloth, sometimes with a shorthappi coat, and rarely completelynaked.
Naked festivals are held in dozens of places throughoutJapan every year, usually in the summer or winter.
Konomiya
edit| Konomiya Hadaka Matsuri | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Observed by | Japan |
| Type | Religious |
| Date | twelfth day of the first month of theChinese 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 theOwari Ōkunitama ShrineHadaka Matsuri held inInazawa, 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 theshin-otoko (神男) enter the stage and has to find a way back to the shrine, callednaoiden. The participating men must try and touch theshin-otoko to transfer their bad luck to him. During the night time ceremony, all the bad luck is transferred in a charcoal coloured giantmochi. The blackmochi is made with rice mixed with the ashes of the burnedOmamori from last year. Themochi is then buried in a secret location in the nearby forest.[1]
The men participating only wear afundoshi andtabi.
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[2]
Saidaiji
edit| Saidaiji Hadaka Matsuri | |
|---|---|
 Participants receiving purification by water at the naked festival at Saidaiji inOkayama. | |
| 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 EyoHadaka Matsuri held inOkayama, where the festival originated over 500 years ago.[3] Every year, over 9,000 men participate in this festival[4] in hopes of gaining luck for the entire year.
See also
edit
References
edit- ^"Konomiya Hadaka Matsuri (Naked Festival of Owari Okunitama Shrine)". Aichi Tourism. 24 February 2021.Archived from the original on 12 September 2021. Retrieved12 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. Retrieved6 February 2024.
- ^"Near-naked Japanese men scramble for 'lucky sticks'".BBC News. 17 February 2019.Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved8 September 2020.
- ^"Saidai-ji Eyo Hadaka Matsuri".Japan National Tourism Organization.Archived from the original on 18 June 2011. Retrieved11 June 2019.
 | This article related to a Japanese festival or holiday is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |