Tuesday, March 01, 2005

Naked Man Festival

Most Japanese festivals are a time of kiminos and elegance, a time to celebrate Japan's rich spiritual culture, to connect with her ancient traditions (whether anyone can remember what they mean or not) and to relax with family members.



The Hadaka-matsuri is not one of those festivals.

For there is another more primal purpose behind many Japanese Festivals, namely that of wall to wall drunken abandon (albeit precisely defined and well choreographed) - to let loose with some ancient and ill-conceived maddness that would be otherwise unthinkable in the sober light of all-too-sensible non-festival Japan.

Last September was the Fire Festival in western Kochi, where a group of drunk men (plus sober me) carried a huge burning tree through the middle of the town, getting showered with red hot ashes all the way, and groups of even drunker men ran around with big drums starting fights with other groups of drunk men with big drums. No one really seems to know why, but they've been doing it for a hell of a long time.(Kure-matsuri photos here)



Last weekend was the Naked Man Festival (Hadaka-matsuri) in Okayama.



Even if the thought of thousands of all-but-naked men packed together like sumo-sardines and fighting over sticks did it for me (and alas it doesn't), the Hadaka-matsuri still wouldn't quite be the homo-erotic wet-dream it sounds like. But though it may not be kinky (or then, maybe it was...), the controlled chaos, the mass drunkeness and the apparent lack of reason, certainly all made for a quintessentially Japanese event.

It's done in the middle of winter in the middle of the night (that Japanese obsession with the cold again), and the thousands of participants (unfortunately all men) are clad only in fundoshi (the sumo-style nappy), and tabi (traditional Japanese socks). Contestants first run through an icy pond with a statue of Kanon in the middle,



then gradually assemble around the main temple, the sea of pink flesh surging in waves and occasionally breaking on the stairs in a torrent of naked bodies. Every now and then a line of police would charge in to try and contain the crowd or to carry an unconcious body from the fray.

At midnight, the monks throw 2 sticks into the mob and a million yen prize is given to whoever can get one of them out through the temple gates. But despite the thousands of punters, rumour has it that the yakuza team wins every year. I was too caught up in the madness to even notice.

Amazing though this mother-of-all-mosh-pits was, I can't say I regreted my decision to keep my clothes on. A few of my foreign friends did take part though and charged in balls-n-all, and while I've got nothin' but respect for them, hey... someone's gotta take the photos.

Naked Man photos

Just hanging out now for the ancient Giant Steel Phallus Festival coming up in April. Japan's got so much to offer!

Posted by Andrew Wallace @ 1:14 PM