Naked Men Festival

My town had its biggest annual festival - the Naked Men Festival. This is apparently one of Japan's 3 weirdest festivals. There were even people from Tokyo who took the shinkansen down just to watch. It was much larger-scale than what I thought it was. There were plenty of food stalls lining the roads in front of the temple and leading to the train station.

First time I've seen this: Dora-chan kasuteya. Little doughy buns shaped like Doraemon.

Tori gates leading to the temple decorated with large lanterns

Basically, what happens during the festival is men, wearing only shorts, dip themselves in a pool (of cold water!) and jostle to get into the temple. Getting into the temple is believed to bring good fortune to their families. And this was taking place at a temperature of -3 deg! Luckily for the male participants, the snow that was forecasted to last the whole day and night cleared up by late afternoon.

Many of the male teachers from my school took part in the festival. Here're some of them getting themselves drunk before they brave the cold. One of the teachers told me earlier that it will be very very cold if you are not drunk before getting naked.

The first thing they do when they step out into the cold is to slap themselves with melted wax from these giant candles! It's scary to watch them cos you know how hot the melted wax is...but that just goes to show how cold they are.

My school's teachers forming a squad before marching to the temple. They were in the first session. There were 3 sessions in total, each lasting an hour. Lots of our students turned up to cheer the teachers on.

The squad reaching the temple

This is the pool that the naked men have to dip themselves into before running to the temple. The pool is within the temple complex.

The men waiting to dip themselves in the pool. That is to purify themselves before entering the temple.

Running into the temple after dipping in the pool
In the temple, the men try to push past the men dressed in white to get to the shrine. Lots of shouting and pushing going on. Once in a while, the men in white will throw some mochi and everyone tries to grab one for luck.

Towards the end of the session, a group of men carrying giant candles rushed in. It's actually really scary when they rush in cos the candles are large and heavy, they cannot carry them in an upright position so there's hot wax dripping from the candles.

Giant candles perched overhead just outside the temple

The front of the temple (the festival is on the left side which is closer to the pool)

Some Japanese youths eagerly striking poses

At the end of the 3 sessions, 4 distinguished men from town throw lanterns off the roof of the temple. The first man squatting on the left is my school's principal. Catching the lanterns will bring luck. If more than 1 person catches a lantern, the people who manage to catch it will tear it up and share it equally.

After the festival, we had a drinking party in a nearby onsen inn with a nice little outdoor onsen. Of course, the teachers had a soak in the onsen before the party to warm themselves up.