Hadaka Matsuri

Participants receiving purification by water at the naked festival at Saidaiji in Okayama

A hadaka matsuri hadakamatsuri (裸祭り) (lit. naked festival) is a type of Japanese festival, or matsuri, where participants wear a minimum amount of clothing; usually just a Japanese loincloth (called fundoshi),　sometimes with a short hapicoat, and very rarely completely naked. Watever the clothing, it is considered to be above vulgar, or everyday, undergarments, and on the level of holy Japanese shrine attire. Naked festivals are held in dozens of places throughout Japan every year, usually in the summer or winter.

Types and Participation

Besides the near naked element, It is common for mud to be involved in the festivities in some way, and this no doubt lends to the entertainment. These Matsuri often happen in one of two times of year, but rarely both times at the same place.

• Hadaka matsuri held in summer tend to involve participants in loincloths carrying mikoshi, while carrying portable shrines.
• Hadaka matsuri held in winter tend to involve ritual purification by water followed by a mass fight for a holy object (such as a stick, jewel, etc) that symbolizes the event.
• Participants are often adult males, who try to cultivate a strong image; however, young boys and girls have been known at times to participate, and in this sense the festival can become a rite of passage for young participants. Most naked festivals limit participation to adult males, but many have separate events where youth may participate, allowing communities to pass their traditions from generation to generation.
• Some locations are dedicated to young men's (are rarer still, women's) hadaka matsuris. This is more common in Western Japan.
• Some places have changes their hadaka matsuri traditions, and switched to female sumo instead.
• Like other festivals in Japan, hadaka matsuri have multiple forms of entertainment for spectators, including stalls with food and games, and taiko drumming. Tourists often travel to see the spectacle.

Controversy

The nature of these festivals, with their skantly-clad participants, is not usually an issue in Japan. In fact, when participants do get naked, it is usually considered a healthy, sacred act, and not indecent. However, some crotroversies do exist.

• Saftey among slippery mud and water, and due to exposure, can be a concern.
• One lumming problem for some festivals has been the participation of unsavory characters looking to gain monetary prizes. Some festival organizers claim that yakuza participant numbers have risen, leading to aggravated voilence in what are suppossed to be jovial bouts.
• Some festivals, such as the Doro mochi tsuki in Tara, Saga have been more subdued in recent years, due to unwanted attention from the media, and the claim that people are forgetting the true, religious meaning behind the festival.