Hadaka Masturi in Japan

Hadaka Masturi when translated in English means “naked festival”. If the word “naked” conjures all sorts of indecent images in your mind then you are in for a big disappointment. The naked festival in Japan has mostly male participants that too in loincloths. The festival takes place on the third Saturday in February in the Kannon-in Temple located in Saidai-Ji in Japan.

It is a kind of a religious festival in which thousands of men dressed to the minimum wrestle with each other in the freezing temperature for a pair of tiny sacred sticks called “Shingi”.

The local men gather in groups in garages. The groups of men consume large amount of Saki (Japanese wine) and jump up and down to keep themselves warm chanting “washoi”. They then jog around the neighborhood and are doused with ice cold water which is supposed to purify them. Chanting washoi, they proceed towards the main temple. When all of them gather at the shrine, two pieces of Shingi wood are dropped from the temple and men push, shove and trample each other to get to these Shingi. It is believed that anyone who catches the Shingi will be favored by the lady luck for the rest of the year. Another highlight of this festival is the food stalls and the taiko drumming.

This festival is mostly restricted to adult males; but separate events for young men and very rarely for women is also held.