‘Naked Man’ Festival Allows Women for First Time in 1,300 Years, With a Catch

For the first time in more than 1,300 year history, Japan is allowing women to take part in its “naked man” festival, The Independent reports.

The Hadaka Matsuri (Naked Festival) is allowing a group of 40 women from Inazawa, in Japan’s Aichi prefecture, to join the festivities with one significant stipulation. They won’t be allowed to strip down, instead remaining fully clothed. Despite its name, the festival isn’t actually attended by completely nude revelers. The men usually wear a fundoshi, or white loincloth, along with a tabi, a pair of long white socks.

The ladies will avoid those indignities, but unfortunately, it means they’ll miss the Naked Festival’s main attraction. The men must grapple over one another to reach a shrine, dubbed the “naoiden,” so they may transfer their bad luck to a shin-otoko, or totem. They will, however, get to take part in the festival’s naoizasa ritual, in which participants lay bamboo sticks wrapped in cloth at the shrine.

Though sole female participants have joined the festival a handful of times in the past, this is the first time a group has been allowed to join. For these women, their inclusion has been a long time coming.

Ayaka Suzuki, vice president of the group that pushed for female inclusion in the festival, has been hoping to participate in the Hadaka Matsuri since she was a child. She told local outlet Yomiuri Shimbun (via The Independent) that she recalls often thinking, “I could’ve participated if I were a boy!”

The Naked Festival has not allowed spectators since 2020, and in that time received many requests from women asking to join. Many see the festival’s decision as a huge step forward for gender equality in Japan.

The Hadaka Matsuri will be held next month at the Konomiya shrine. Participants join to gain luck for the New Year, as the event is purported to bring abundance of harvest, fertility, and prosperity. A priest tosses wooden sticks, known as shingi, into the crowd tied with a bundle of twigs. Anyone who catches the parcel is guaranteed a year of good luck.