Wearing nothing but white loincloths and immersed in near-freezing winter water, hundreds of men wrestle with each other to grab a bag containing a lucky charm.
This is the scene of the Somin-sai festival, one of the three most important “naked men festivals” (Hadaka Matsuri) in Japan. Held for over 1,000 years at the ancient Kokusekiji temple in Iwate Prefecture (northeast of Japan), Somin-sai takes place on the night of January 7 to 8 of the new lunar year.
Participants compete for a lucky bag at the Somin-sai festival at Kokusekiji Temple on February 17, 2024. Photo: CNN
Participants compete for a bag symbolizing good fortune at the Somin-sai festival at Kokusekiji Temple on February 17, 2024.
The Japanese believe that the Somin-sai festival will bring good luck and prosperity to those who participate and protect people from disasters and diseases. The most prominent event of the festival is the battle for the lucky bag.
The battle started at four in the morning and would last until sunrise. People fought with all their might to grab the bag and carry it to a designated area away from the temple. It was a very tough battle, most of the participants were bruised and some even bled.
The Somin-sai festival usually attracts thousands of visitors. But the popular event was held for the last time on Saturday, becoming the latest Japanese cultural tradition to suffer as the country's aging population crisis bites.
In an online post, Somin-sai festival organizers admitted that they could not find enough young people willing to participate to ease the pressure on older locals who could not keep up with the demands of the ritual.
“This decision is due to the aging of the individuals participating in the festival and the lack of successors,” wrote Venerable Fujinami, abbot of Kokusekiji Temple, on the temple’s website.
Japan's population has been falling steadily since the economic boom of the 1980s, with a birth rate of 1.3 - far below the 2.1 rate needed to maintain a stable population.
The death rate has also been higher than the birth rate in Japan for more than a decade, posing a growing problem for leaders of the world's fourth-largest economy.
Japan now faces a growing aging population and a shrinking workforce, as well as pension and health care challenges as the needs of its aging population increase.
It is understood that two other Hadaka Matsuri festivals, at Saidaiji Kannonin Temple in Okama Prefecture and Kuronuma Shrine in Fukushima Prefecture, will still be held next year.
Quang Anh (according to CNN Travel)
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