News Women to participate in a Naked Festival for the first time

[thomas]

For the first time in history, women in Japan have been permitted to take part in an ancient fertility ceremony known as the "naked festival," for the first time, albeit with modifications. The Hadaka Matsuri (裸祭り) is a festival held on 22 February 2024 in Inazawa, Aichi, in which thousands of men dressed in fundoshi drive away evil spirits.

The festival has been regarded as off-limits to women since it was first held in the town about 1,250 years ago. Still, according to Japanese media reports, organisers will allow a group of about 40 women to take part.

The women, who will be fully clothed, will make ritual offerings of bamboo grass but will not be part of the festival's momiai climax, in which men dressed only in fundoshi – a type of traditional loincloth – tabi socks and hachimaki bandanas clash with each other as they attempt to transfer their bad luck to a "chosen man" by touching him before he is withdrawn to the safety of the shrine. Ayaka Suzuki, who campaigned for the unofficial ban on women to be lifted, said she had wanted to participate in the festival since she was a child. "I could have participated had I been a boy," she told reporters, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper. Suzuki added that she would use the opportunity to pray for her family's safety and those affected by the recent deadly earthquake on the Noto peninsula. Organisers of Japan's myriad festivals have come under pressure to open them up to all comers amid concern that rural depopulation could end events traditionally dominated by local men. This month, women participated in the Katsube fire festival in Shiga prefecture for the first time in its 800-year history. But organisers of the Somin-sai – which also features minimal clothing – in the north-east town of Oshu announced last month that the event would be held for the final time this year.

Women in Japan allowed to take part in ‘naked festival’ for first time

Women will take part in the hadaka matsuri in Inazawa, in which thousands of men dressed in next to nothing drive away evil spirits

www.theguardian.com

 

[Lothor]

'The women, who will be fully clothed'. I couldn't help feel a twinge of disappointment when I read that!

 

[nice gaijin]

I went to the Hadaka Matsuri at Saidaiji in Okayama some years ago (back in 2010). It was a cold night in February and we passed groups of men wearing nothing but fundoshi and tabi sucking on cigarettes as if the embers themselves would keep them warm. The crowd took its place all around the temple grounds to witness the event.

All the men crowd (literally) on the steps of the main temple, and water is thrown on them specifically to provide lubrication so the friction of all those bodies rubbing together doesn't tear flesh or cause burns. At the annointed hour (10pm I think) the lights suddenly cut out and the special incense stick called the shingi is dropped into the throbbing mass of men, who fight over the holy dildo in the hopes that their team will claim the luck and honor for the year.

I'm all for equality but I can't really fathom why women would want to join. To me it seems like a bad idea to be fully clothed, as it could be hazardous to both the women and the men around them. It'll be interesting to see how this pans out.

 

[Hiroyuki Nagashima]

'The women, who will be fully clothed'. I couldn't help feel a twinge of disappointment when I read that!

Though I expected it, I am disappointed. Let's expect it for the perseverance of more feminist groups.
It is Isumi-shi, Chiba Ohara Naked Festival, and the woman seems to participate, too.

大原はだか祭り|いすみ市

秋風がたち始めると、大原地区の人々の心は″はだか祭り″のことでいっぱいになります。地域じゅうが一体となって盛り上がる伝統の秋まつり、″大原はだか祭り″は、例年9月下旬の2日間にわたって行われる雄壮な祭りです。担ぎ手たちの情熱と優しさの両面を十分に感じることのできるこの祭りには熱心なファンも多く、毎年多くの観衆でにぎわいます。関東随一とも言われる、大原はだか祭り。強烈な感動が、心の中を駆けぬけていくようです。

www-city-isumi-lg-jp.translate.goog

 

[Petaris]

I went to the Hadaka Matsuri at Saidaiji in Okayama some years ago (back in 2010). It was a cold night in February and we passed groups of men wearing nothing but fundoshi and tabi sucking on cigarettes as if the embers themselves would keep them warm. The crowd took its place all around the temple grounds to witness the event.

Why in the world would you hold a festival like that during a time of year when you can expect it to be so cold?

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

'The women, who will be fully clothed'. I couldn't help feel a twinge of disappointment when I read that!

"Fully clothed" is antithetical to "hadaka". If you want in, go in all the way!

 

[mdchachi]

I'm all for equality but I can't really fathom why women would want to join. To me it seems like a bad idea to be fully clothed, as it could be hazardous to both the women and the men around them. It'll be interesting to see how this pans out.

It sounds like the women won't be involved in the climatic fight for the shingi thingi.

 

[thomas]

Another 'Naked Festival' opened its gates to women at the Owari Okunitama Shrine in Inazawa, Aichi prefecture .

Photo credit: Chris Gallagher​

Women officially joined a so-called "naked festival" at a shrine in Aichi Prefecture on Thursday for the first time in the event's 1,250 year history, donning purple robes and chanting excitedly as they bore a large bamboo trunk as an offering. Seven groups of women took part in the ritual which is said to drive away evil spirits and where participants pray for happiness. Despite its name, those taking part are not naked. Many women wore happi coats (robes that reach to the hips) and shorts that are typically worn at Japanese festivals, although men just wore loincloths similar to those worn by sumo wrestlers. "I heard that women could participate so I definitely wanted to take part to help bring excitement to this town and festival," said 59-year-old civil servant Emi Tachibana, one of the participants. Naruhito Tsunoda, a priest at the shrine, said there had never been a ban on women participating, and some had even made small offerings as individuals before. However, when a women's group inquired last year if they could join, saying 'yes' was easy. "I believe the most important thing is for there to be a fun festival for everyone. I think God would be happiest about that too," he said.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/women-take-part-japans-1250-year-old-naked-festival-first-time-2024-02-22/

Totally unrelated, but I found it interesting (and uncommon in Japan) that this happi-clad lady had what I believe are her son's birth details tattooed on her forearm.