Naked Japs Struggle To Get Wood

Around 9,000 men dressed only in white loincloths scrambled to get their hands on two pieces of sacred wood at a Buddhist temple in Okayama yesterday, marking the 500th anniversary of “one of Japan’s three oddest festivals.” The ceremony at Saidaiji Temple is called Saidaiji Eyo, and the two winners who manage to grab the pieces of wood and get out of the temple’s compound are declared by the monks as “the man of fortune of the year.”

The near-naked men entered the compound at around 10 p.m. Saturday after undergoing a purification rite by pouring cold water over themselves. At midnight, the monks turned off the lights and dropped the 20-cm-long pieces of wood into the writhing throng. The participants immediately started struggling to grab hold of them, their bodies steam in the cold night air.

Comment

Read All Comments

Socialize