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Sunday, 28 January 2024

Matsuri : Traditional Japanese festivals

Naked Man Festival

Matsuri, Japanese festivals, are traditional festive occasions often celebrated with dance and music.

Three of the most traditional festivals

Konomiya Hadaka Matsuri, Inazawa 13th day of the Lunar calendar

The festival, also known as the Naked Man Festival takes place annually on the 13th day of the lunar calendar, so it always changes dates in February or March. On Lunar New Year, believers and thousands of men wearing loincloths gather at Owari Okunitama-jinja Shrine (Konomiyajinja Shrine), in the normally quiet Aichi city of Inazawa, to pray for good luck. Teams from all over the city wear no more protection from the winter chill than a loincloth and a few swigs of fortifying sake as they parade through the town. The parade passes along the passage to Konomiya-jinja Shrine where the local groups demonstrate their strength and dexterity carrying large bamboo poles, called "naoi-zasa, into the shrine. www.japan.travel/en/spot/2347/

Honen Matsuri, Aichi Prefecture 15 March 2024

Dating back 1,500 years, the Tagata Jinja Shrine in the Aichi prefecture is filled with man-made and naturally formed penis shaped items worshipped for fertility. The shrine plays host to the annual fertility festival, the Honen Matsuri, in March but guests are welcome to visit year-round. During the festival, celebrants line up to rub the stones and statues, praying for a good harvest and fertility. The highlight of the matsuri is a two-metre long wooden penis sculpture that is carried through the crowd. www.en.japantravel.com/aichi/the-tagatahonen-matsuri/19293 and www.japan.travel/en/spot/2348/

Nachi Ougi Matsuri, Wakayama 14 July 2024

Nachi Fire Festival

Every year on 14 July, a stone staircase to the Nachi Waterfall from the Kumano Nachi Taisha Grand Shrine stages the Nachi Ougi Matsuri. Also known as the Nachi Fire Festival, it sees participants carrying the flaming torches amidst loud religious chanting and thick smoke. The Nachi Ougi Matsuri is a Shinto ritual where 12 portable shrines which represent the 12 divine spirits of the waterfall are purified by fire. www.japan.travel/en/spot/62/

* www.japan.travel/en/uk/

* Kim Chan at kim@blackdiamond.co.uk