Late on the night of the third Saturday of February (this year, Saturday, February 21), an intense spectacle unfolds at Saidaiji Kannon-in in Okayama Prefecture.
About 9,000 men wearing nothing but a fundoshi (loincloth) battle under the freezing midwinter sky for two wooden sticks called shingi. This is Saidaiji Eyo, popularly known as the Hadaka Matsuri (Naked Festival).
It is a sacred religious event full of power and passion that has continued for more than 500 years. But why are the men naked, and what are they fighting over?
🔥 Good Fortune Comes to Whoever Seizes the Shingi
Saidaiji Eyo is a tradition dating back to the Muromachi period and is counted among Japan's three most unusual festivals.
At 10 p.m., all the lights in the temple grounds go out at once, and the two shingi are dropped into the darkness. Whoever gets hold of one is said to receive good fortune for the whole year. Participants purify themselves with mizugori (cold-water ablutions) and wait for that moment, enduring the cold in nothing but a loincloth.
Tips for Spectators
This festival is overwhelming even just to watch.
- Cold versus heat: At midnight in midwinter, with temperatures around 5 degrees, 9,000 naked men crowd together. The steam rising from their body heat and energy creates an almost dreamlike scene.
- A fierce struggle: When the shingi are dropped, hands reach out all at once, and the men push and jostle in a crush. Their intensity, staking everything on this single moment, overwhelms onlookers.
- Spectator etiquette: To protect the participants' safety and the sanctity of the festival, watch from the designated viewing areas. Flash photography is prohibited.
🎌 Its Meaning as a Religious Event
Saidaiji Eyo is a religious ritual praying for bountiful harvests and good health, and the shingi are sacred objects blessed by priests.
Participants purify themselves by fasting and cold-water ablutions from the day before, preparing body and mind for the festival. Only two people can claim a shingi each year, but taking part is itself said to ward off bad luck, so men gather from all over Japan. About 10,000 spectators also come, and the temple grounds are filled with an extraordinary energy.
A fierce struggle among naked men in the dead of a midwinter night.
Saidaiji Eyo is one of the most striking of all Japanese festivals, and is sure to be an unforgettable experience.
