In life
There are certain things a man just has to do before he dies
After seeing the show today I hope that "HADAKA MATSURI" or naked men festival
is one of those things
I traveled three and a half hours from Tokyo to get to Okayama
Okayama is 537 kilometers
333 miles southwest from Tokyo
Takes 3.5 hours by bullet train
It's a beautiful city with open skies, wide avenues
and friendly people
It's famous for "MOMOTARO"
A folk hero who was born from a peach
To an old couple without children
MOMOTARO or peach boy
met friendly talking animals on his quest to capture the ONI
or demon on a nearby island
Okayama is also known for its delicious white peaches
KOURAKUEN is one of Japan's top three gardens
Okayama castle
is also known as the crows' castle
due to its darker exterior
KOURAKUEN is a very relaxing place
and because of it, I slept very well the night before the festival
In a cozy capsule hotel near the station
Tonight is the night
Now you may think that the naked men festival is just a bunch of naked men
running around the temple
But that's not true at all. It has a deep religious significance
and it's rooted in history
It takes place SAIDAIJI temple which is not far
from here but twenty minutes by JR
Let's go
Just a few minutes outside of the city centre
Okayama's charming countryside takes over the view
It's a dramatic change from the hustle
of Tokyo
Welcome to SAIDAIJI
This is where all the Magic's gonna happen
and in a few hours I'll be walking through the gates
into the grounds
Going over there towards the pool
Go through the pool here to cleanse ourselves
go around then we come back and go up
into the temple where it's a little bit warmer than out here
In fact it's freezing right now The winds picked up and...
I sure hope it's not like this tonight
SAIDAIJI was built in the 8th century
and locals and tourists from all over the world come and visit
Many praying, light candles
or incense and look for inner peace
I got a lot of advice from locals
This is the 504th year
The "HADAKA MATSURI" has been held
Making it one of the three oldest festivals in Japan
I had a chance to talk with one of the temples munks
about the history of "HADAKA MATSURI"
This is the opening where they'll throw all of the SHINGI lucky sticks at 10 p.m
and these are the SHINGI
holy sticks or lucky charms. They're beautifully scented
When thrown at 10 p.m.
The whole area will smell beautifully like incense
The area is nearly set
There as a spectator seating area about forty meters from the temple
Prior to the main event at night
The temple holds a children's "HADAKA MATSURI"
The winners are placed it atop shoulders to show their pride in getting lucky stick
Even for the kids
The scramble for the sticks can get quite intense
Getting mostly naked and running through the streets at night
is a little bit strange for many cultures
so I as two fellow Americans
their feelings about this
Coming... coming for San Francisco
Yeah, actually
It's maybe not
as strange as other parts the states
I guess I don't really see this is a naked festival
Because you wear traditional clothes
Ah.., and I think yeah, maybe here in japan it's just not that big of a deal
Near by
There are many tents where people hoping to participate can buy the TABI socks
and FUNDOSHI loin cloth and change
It's not necessary to register in advance
You can leave your things in the tent
The I was lucky to find a friendly company to host me
The group quickly accepted me as one of their own
and I had an experienced hand at helping me with my FUNDOSHI
It was painful but pretty interesting experience
It feels like a big wedgie
All right, (Thank you)ARIGATO
The group really knows how to have fun
I got FUNDOSHI on, the whole set ready for the festival...
It was really painful when they put it on
But I feel ok now
It's loosening up a little bit
Everyone's ready to go in a few minutes we're gonna go out to the call
and start the festival
I'm feeling a little bit nervous
Because it's nice and warm in here and when we get outside I think the first
You the first bit of chill that hits me just gonna knock me out
Are you ready
I am
Outside
The night temperature was around minus three degrees Celsius
and the best way to stay warm was to keep moving... and huddle up with the other members
However hold water was thrown all over the group, either a way to purify us
or to make us go crazy!
I suppose the water had both effects
because we participants simply cannot stand still
The crowd around the temple was pretty big with all the photo flashes and
cheering around me
We felt like rock stars
A member of the famous band
Each local company or group
Comes in....
in waves...
and must first be purified in the holy fountain
The water is not heated
cold!!!!
That was crazy
cold!
WASHOI,WASHOI,WASHOI,WASHOI
WASHOI,WASHOI,WASHOI
The participants yell out
WASHOI,WASHOI
WASHOI,WASHOI,WASHOI..........
That's the 3rd time in. I'm freezing!
How many times do I go around?
WASHOI,WASHOI,WASHOI,WASHOI,
I'm not that cold, actually
They're pretty warm!
All of the jogging...
Walking through the pool...
The unique thing to me was that after a few minutes,
I no longer felt like I was a naked guy running around
But a participant in a very spiritual event
To be honest I wasn't entirely sure what was going on
But I felt very connected to the group, the temple
and to the experience
There was a deep sense of satisfaction being out here
I'm not that cold, but....better warm up
Waters everywhere
So what that was the company introduction...
All the local companies all got together and they went through
Ah..., like you just saw
Lot of the employees are leaving now but the main event
is coming soon..so I decided to stick around for that
That event is a little bit more dangerous where 9000 naked guys are
fighting inside the temple to get
sacred sticks for good luck
But the majority of the company workers here
are done
So,ah..
This the ball of UDON
is gonna keep warm they said
Warm me inside
Well
Because outside is cold
Cold
The main event
We arrive to an already full house
It's very difficult to pile into the crowded temple halll
As people push on one side people topple down the steps on the other
No one stays down for long though...
Go right back up, not wanting to lose their place
The center is the best place to capture one of the SHINGI
or lucky sticks
The air around the temple was very warm and humid
They dropped all of the SHINGI lucky charm group after the lights went out
The lights went back on, people are scrambling everywhere
There are people jumping, fighting, kicking
Everything you can imagine that's in World Wrestling
is a professional one
People are still running back and forth
It's really cold out here...I ran through water, butt through crowds
I didn't get a lucky charm SHINGI
But I feel like really it was a worth while experience to try this because
deep religious meaning to it.
Doing these kinds of things in Japan although it seems a little bit silly
Really has it
Makes you feel part of the country
So if you
come to Japan you here in February, the 3rd Saturday...
Come to SAIDAIJI for sure
I gotta back in there. Maybe some more lucky charm