Hadaka Matsuri: inside Japan’s naked festival

Little has changed in 500 years - except the addition of hand sanitiser because of coronavirus

Hadaka Matsuri takes place in Okayama province
(Image credit: Behrouz Mehri / AFP via Getty Images)

Japan’s biggest naked festival – a raucous, 500-year-old religious event in which some 10,000 men strip down to their loincloths and compete to catch twigs in the hope of having a lucky year – took place in Okayama prefecture this weekend.

Despite the eye-catching name, the participants who thronged a temple for the 2020 Hadaka Matsuri were not entirely nude: they wore traditional loincloths called fundoshi and socks known as tabi.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us