Held on the third day of the New Year by the lunar calendar (typically late January or early February) at Konomiya Shrine in Inazawa, the Hadaka Matsuri is one of Japan's most famous naked festivals with over 1,250 years of recorded history. Thousands of men wearing only loincloths brave the cold and press through a torch-lit crowd to touch the shinotoko (the chosen 'god-man'), believing their impurities will be transferred to him and carried away. The shinotoko, barefoot and wearing white, is escorted into the shrine amid an intense surge of bodies and chanting.
- Type
- Festival
- Category
- Matsuri
- Season
- Winter
- Month
- Late January / Early February
- Region
- Chubu
- Prefecture
- Aichi
- City
- Inazawa
Highlights
- ◆One of Japan's Three Great Naked Festivals (Hadaka Matsuri)
- ◆Over 9,000 loincloth-clad participants
- ◆The sacred shinotoko (god-man) purification ritual
- ◆Torchlit night procession through the shrine grounds
- ◆1,250+ years of documented continuous tradition