Inazawa –
Hadaka Matsuri or naked man festival is one of Japan’s many unique cultures. This year will be different, because there are women participating there.
Reporting from NDTV on Wednesday (24/1), this festival will be held in Inazawa City, Aichi Prefecture. Hakada Matsuri is scheduled for February 22.
This activity has been going on for generations and is carried out regularly every year. During the event, around 10,000 men wearing loincloths or fundoshi and white socks will gather there.
In the ritual, the men will spend several hours running around the temple grounds. They then purify themselves with freezing cold water before entering the main temple.
A temple priest then threw two lucky sticks and 100 branches. The participants must struggle to be able to touch or get it. According to belief, those who hold it will have good luck throughout the year.
At the end of the event, participants usually leave battered. Even so, they still enjoy it.
In 2024, there is a slight difference. First in 1,650 years, women will participate in this festival.
No, not as imagined. Women will only perform certain rituals. But they will still be fully clothed, wearing traditional coats and avoiding violent clashes.
There are a total of 40 women, they will participate in the naoizasa ritual, namely carrying bamboo grass wrapped in cloth to the temple grounds.
“We haven’t been able to hold the festival as usual for the past three years because of the pandemic and at that time, we received many requests from women in the city to take part,” said Mitsugu Katayama, one of the organizing committee.
He clarified that previously there had been no active prohibition against women’s participation in this festival. But they tend to stay away from festivals voluntarily.
This decision received praise from local women and gender activists. This is considered a step forward in the campaign for gender equality.
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(bnl/wsw)
2024-01-24 14:05:24
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