Hadaka Matsuri

Hadaka Matsuri

Participants receiving purification by water at the naked festival at Saidaiji in Okayama.
Observed by Japan
Type Religious
Significance Celebrates the blessings of a bountiful harvest and all manner of prosperity and fertility
Date Third Saturday in February
2016 date February 20  (2016-02-20)
2017 date February 18  (2017-02-18)
2018 date February 17  (2018-02-17)
2019 date February 16  (2019-02-16)
Frequency annual

A Hadaka Matsuri (裸祭り, "Naked Festival") is a type of Japanese festival, or matsuri, in which participants wear a minimum amount of clothing; usually just a Japanese loincloth (called fundoshi), sometimes with a short happi coat, and rarely completely naked.

Naked festivals are held in dozens of places throughout Japan every year, usually in the summer or winter. The most famous festival is the Saidai-ji Eyo Hadaka Matsuri held at Saidaiji Temple in Okayama, where the festival originated. Every year, over 9,000 men participate in this festival[1] in hopes of gaining luck for the entire year.

See also

References


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