裸押合い祭り Hakada Oshiai Matsuri (literally, Naked Pushing Festival)

After skiing, we went for an onsen to relax our muscles and it's off to the craziest event of the year...the Naked Men Festival hosted by my humble town!

Being a teacher of my school, I gained privileged entry into the big hall where the participants were drinking themselves silly from 4pm (the event started only at 7pm!). I was immediately plied with 2 big glasses of sake upon arrival (my protests about drinking on an empty stomach went unheard).

PE teacher Yamaguchi-sensei flaunting his muscles while changing, with the crazy Matsumura-sensei behind him.

Most of the guys needed help with their "outfits". Basically, they wear 3 thin layers around the bottom half of their bodies: a pair of white cotton boxers. On top of that, a pair of cotton shorts that they have to tie around (really, really complicated to figure out how to wear it!) and finally, a long strip of cotton that they wrap around their waists (or as high up their chests as it can go for that bit of extra warmth).

Step 2, 鉢巻 hachimaki (traditional Japanese headbands) to be tied around their foreheads. (polka-dotted design for team members and plain white headbands for team leaders; 2 leaders per team)

To finish off, put on tabi (traditional Japanese split-toe socks) and tie the traditional straw sandals on securely.

Ikarashi-sensei, my school's team leader proudly carrying the huge candle with my school's name written on it. It's quite dangerous. Due to its weight, the candle tends to be tilted while you're carrying it, sending a constant stream of melting wax dripping down your back (or onto the person behind you!).

As it was a relatively warm 5 deg Celsius this year (compared to -3 deg last year and snowing too!), the teachers were all quite relaxed and coolly posed for photos at the students' requests when they stepped out into the cold (unlike last year when they made a beeline for the candle and started slapping hot wax all over themselves).

Chugging down sake by the bottle helps fight the cold too

Then, they gather around the candle and chant what sounds like "sai-yo sai-yo" which supposedly calls the gods' attention to them. Here's a short video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGQr_Z_8TOA


Next, they line up in a squad formation and prepare to march off to the temple.

A short video of the march to the temple http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbyX9n8lTgs

Finally reaching the temple, where they'll have to jump into a pool of icy cold water (to purify themselves) before fighting their way into the temple (spectators have to jostle in the outer chamber of the temple too!)
In the temple, they supposedly fight to get in front of the Buddhist image to make a prayer (I didn't see that happening though; they just appeared to be pushing each other and movng around in circles). The "naked" men also chant "make-o, make-o" (pronounced mah-kay-o) to get the men standing on the platform to throw lucky mochi (rice cakes) out. They then scramble to get a piece of mochi.