A shrine in Japan that organises the famous Naked Man festival will allow women to participate for the first time in its 1,250-year history.

A group of local women in Inazawa, in Japan’s Aichi prefecture, are all set to join the annual Hadaka Matsuri, held in February at the Konomiya shrine.

While the women will remain fully clothed and avoid the traditional violent clash of near-naked men in loincloths, they will participate in the naoizasa ritual, which will require them to carry bamboo grass wrapped in cloth into the shrine grounds.

  • @NounsAndWords@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    9410 months ago

    While the women will remain fully clothed and avoid the traditional violent clash of near-naked men in loincloths

    Welp, there go my travel plans…

  • @thedirtyknapkin@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    7910 months ago

    just by the by, the Japanese name for it SHOULD just translate to “naked festival” the “man” is an English inclusion.

  • @Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    4310 months ago

    The people who run that shrine (shriners? Shrinekeepers? Shrinarians?) clearly don’t know what the word “naked” means 🙄

  • daisy lazarus
    link
    fedilink
    English
    2410 months ago

    Imagine how weird we must seem to any extraterrestrial life that’s capable of observing us

  • tiredofsametab
    link
    fedilink
    1310 months ago

    Japan allows women (…)

    A shrine in Japan which is legally distinct from the Japanese government (especially post-WWII)

  • AutoTL;DRB
    link
    English
    1110 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    A group of local women in Inazawa, in Japan’s Aichi prefecture, are all set to join the annual Hadaka Matsuri, held in February at the Konomiya shrine.

    Men typically wear a minimal ensemble, consisting of a Japanese loincloth known as a fundoshi and a pair of white socks called tabi.

    At a press conference recently, she said: “I’d like to pray for the safety of my family and for the people affected by the Noto peninsula earthquake [which struck Japan this month].

    Mitsugu Katayama, an official of the organising committee told South China Morning Post: “We have not been able to hold the festival like we used to for the past three years because of the pandemic and, in the time, we received a lot of requests from women in the town to take part.”

    As many rural communities face population decline due to young people migrating to cities for employment, towns are left predominantly inhabited by the elderly and infirm.

    The need for increased participation in ancient traditions, regardless of gender, is seen as crucial to ensuring the continuation of cultural practices in the face of declining community populations.


    The original article contains 540 words, the summary contains 190 words. Saved 65%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!