TOKYO – Hadaka Matsuri, translated as the “Naked Festival” in English, is a yearly traditional Japanese festival where near-naked men gather to compete for sacred talismans (called “shingi” or “shingi-ryō”) thrown by a priest. The festivals occur in winter to seek the blessings of the gods to bring good fortune, fertility, and prosperity. The festivals occur in various Shinto shrines and this year some changes are afoot.
Owase Shrine in Mie Prefecture hosts the Yaya Matsuri, commonly known as the Yaya Festival. Like the other celebrations at Shinto shrines, the event incorporates prayers to the gods, seeking abundant harvests for farmers and prosperous catches for fishermen both of which ensure the well-being and prosperity of the community in the upcoming year.
Part of the ritual involves a purification ritual in frigid waters called korikaki. During this part of the ceremony, male festival participants strip naked and immerse themselves in the waters of the ocean and nearby rivers after nightfall at the beginning of February when overnight temperatures can drop close to freezing.
Men have performed the ritual at the Owase shrine for over 300 years. The practice is no secret to the community.
What is different is behavior on social media or rather the lack of restraint of onlookers in sharing images of the festival. Mie Prefectural Police issued a warning last year to the Owase Shrine Parishioners Association that the potential online dissemination of photos featuring nude participants from the event could result in legal consequences.
So, with that warning, this year will be different. The possibility of legal action worried the association which, after deliberations, has decided to implement a policy requiring participants in the korikaki ritual to loincloths, swimsuits, or similar garments when participating in the ritual and before entering the water.
Men waiting for the priest at the precincts of Owari Okokurei Shrine during the “Kokufu Shrine Naked Festival”. [Photo Credit: KKPCW CCA-SA 4.0]
Atsushi Naka, the head of the parishioners association told various media that “to preserve our traditions, we want to make necessary revisions. We hope that the local community will understand.” The association said this policy will continue in the future.
The Yaya Matsuri is scheduled for February 1-5 this year. However, it may take a few more months to determine if the absence of nudity will still be effective in persuading the gods to bless Owase’s fields and fishing spots.
But this is not the only change this year seen in Shinto temples. In Inazawa, located in Japan’s Aichi prefecture, local women will take part in their annual Hadaka Matsuri, at the Konomiya shrine. It is the first time women will participate in the 1,250-year history of the event.
The women will remain fully clothed and they will also refrain from engaging in the customary intense clashes among nearly nude men in loincloths. But the women will actively engage in the naoizasa ritual. This ritual entails carrying bamboo grass wrapped in cloth into the shrine grounds.
Men typically wear Japanese loincloth (fundoshi) and a pair of white socks (tabi) during the festival, which celebrates the abundance of harvest, prosperity, and fertility.
Times are changing for the better: about 40 local women will be participating in this ancient event this year for the first time. They will dedicate the bamboo grass at a separate time from the men’s ceremony. But the women will nevertheless be participating in the ritual that has been excluding them for over a millennium.
Ayaka Suzuki, 36, lamented to the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun, “I could’ve participated if I were a boy!” Ms. Suzuki, serving as the vice chair of a women’s group advocating for women’s inclusion in the festival, stated at a recent press conference, “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]. I will take good care of myself until the day of the festival.”
The torii gateway to the Itsukushima Shrine in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, one of the most famous examples of torii in the country. [Photo Credit: JordyMeow CC BY-SA 3.0
Mitsugu Katayama, a member of the organizing committee, told the media, “We have not been able to hold the festival like we used to for the past three years because of the pandemic, and in that time, we received a lot of requests from women in the town to take part.”
The decision to involve women more prominently in the Konomiya shrine festival has garnered praise from local women and equality champions, noting it is a positive step toward equality. Praise has also come from abroad.
“This is a welcome development,” commented Megan Manson, a practitioner of Shinto who runs Pagans for Secularism and is also known in our circles as Pagan Tama.
“Women have been long been excluded from many aspects of Shinto. But Japan has a long history of changing and updating its rituals according to the needs of society. In recent years, we’ve seen several positive movements towards greater equality of the sexes in Shinto – this is the latest”
Manson added, “there are still some Shinto traditions which still retain sexism – the prohibition of women in Sumo, for example. I hope this latest development in the Hadaka Matsuri will help break down the remaining barriers for women and girls who simply want to take part in Japanese culture on equal terms to men.”
Increased participation in ancient traditions, like at the Konomiya shrine, is deemed crucial for preserving cultural practices, especially in communities experiencing declining populations due to urban migration. Some critics have said that the population shifts are the drivers to engage more members of the community. The Covid pandemic also played a role with rituals suspended or curtailed during the past three years.
The Hadaka Matsuri festivals begin next week. This year, with the pandemic behind the community organizers expect approximately 10,000 people to participate in the event.
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