裸祭り Hadaka Matsuri…Naked Man Festival!

Jason & I before the festival, 2010

OK, before you jump to conclusions, yes, this festival involves thousands of NEARLY–naked men! And I was one of them.  You wear something called a “fundoshi” or loin cloth, which does a fine job of covering the essentials.  Personally, I’ve seen more skin on the beaches of Thailand.  Well not exactly, because at this festival, in a normally sleepy town in Okayama Prefecture, you’ll see about 20,000 of us.  Participation is open to everyone, so long as you’re male.  Sorry ladies.  Sorry for us guys, too.  I’d only heard of the event in the past, but having lived in neighboring Shimane Prefecture, this opportunity was too good to pass up.

The Hadaka Matsuri (裸祭り) is said to “represent the struggle in old times between the assemblage of lower-ranking shinto priests” and “to set up an unlucky poor man as noble, who was unwilling to take the role.”  How this applies today?  Who cares.  All the excitement takes place in and around Saidai-ji Temple, which we found just in the nick of time.

We arrived late, taking a combination of trains and cabs, after having missed the chartered bus.  Our fault.  But hey, we had lots of sake and yakitori to consume!  We were rushed into a makeshift changing room, where about $30 gets you the cloth, some little booties and a good wrapping by a Professional.  I’ll save you the grief of having to see any behind the scenes footage.

We were thrust out onto the streets.  It was 0ºC on that night, about 33ºF.  I didn’t even notice the cold, as the cheers and chants had a way of carrying your spirit far beyond anything normal!  There were thousands of fans lining the path, and among the 20,000 odd participants, my guess is that less than fifty of us were foreign.  Gaijin smash!  We stood out, for sure, high-fiving onlookers, posing for pictures, really getting into it.

In the shit of it, 2010

Once inside the temple grounds, we were at the back of the pack.  Jason and I were quick to maneuver our way into the middle of the mess.  And what a mess it was, all 20,000 people rushing to the middle.  The idea of the festival being to grab hold a set of bamboo sticks, tossed into the mess.  See that little white packet in the photo there?  That’s a bundle of about 15 sets of bamboo sticks.  Some bring money prizes, others good luck.

When in the middle of this epic commotion, I can only imagine it’s what being buried alive would be like.  You can’t move, no matter what you do.  You’re at the mercy of the crowd.  I was told beforehand to keep your arms high, if not, they’ll be pinned at your sides.  With each breath, you can feel the strain of your muscles, ribs and lungs.  And with each breath, you can feel your expansion take over the space of your neighbors.  Those ice–cold temperatures are long gone, and now you’re entire body is dripping with sweat, your eyes weigh heavy, utter exhaustion ensues.  But what else can you do?  There’s no backing out of this mess now.  I closed my eyes at times, conjuring images of Dante’s Inferno, trying to decide which circle of Hell we’d landed in.  It’s all rather gruesome from the inside, really.  Shouts echo throughout the temple, a noise I’ve never heard replicated once.  Jason ended up with a rib broken, ambulance sirens rang loudly through the town’s narrow streets, and the smell of sweat, alcohol and BBQ hung low over us all.  But not once was I not thankful to be there, previewed to something most in this world will never see, let alone do.

In 2010, we didn’t come up with any of those lucky sticks.  But in 2011, I made my second appearance at the Hadaka Matsuri, and then, I was able to bring one of those good luck sticks back out of the shit and past the temple gates, the official Finish Line.  So yes, one year of this wasn’t enough.  I went well out of my way to schedule a trip from Tokyo in 2011 back to Okayama in February, rather than when everyone else wanted vacation time, Golden Week.  It was 100% worth it, and now, I’ve had one year of good luck, thanks to those bamboo sticks.  It’s been an amazing year, difficult, but amazing.

Sadly, it’s looking like a trip to participate in 2012 is out of the question.  But I already reached my goal.

With Leonard, Andrew and my lucky sticks

The feeling of having all those eyes on you, seeing the thousands of camera flashes, high-fives and support…it’s hard to duplicate.  I imagine it’s what being a professional athlete is like.  I hope that someday, I’ll be able to make another Hadaka Matsuri.

The reason we're always running behind.

Back in it, 2011