Future of Japan’s ‘naked festival’ in doubt after 3 men left unconscious

Three men remain unconscious after a crush at one of Japan’s best-known traditional festivals, casting a shadow over a 500-year-old rite that draws thousands of nearly naked participants each winter. The incident occurred shortly after 10pm on Saturday at the annual “naked festival” at Saidaiji Kannon-in Temple in Okayama City, where an estimated 10,000 men wearing only mawashi loincloths packed into the temple’s main hall to seize one of two sacred wooden sticks known as shingi. Six men were pulled from the crowd after collapsing during the scramble, with three later released after treatment and the remaining three still unconscious, local media reported. The men have not been named but are reported to be two residents of Okayama City, aged 58 and 47, and a 42-year-old from nearby Mimasaka City. Two of the men were found together on the south side of the main hall, while the third was discovered on the west side, Sanyo News reported on Monday. Emergency teams used defibrillators and performed cardiac massage before transporting the men to hospital. One witness described seeing “naked people falling in an avalanche”. The festival, formally known as the Saidaiji Eyo, can be traced back to 1510, according to the temple, and is held on the third Saturday of February each year. Participants begin by chanting “Wasshoi! Wasshoi!” and purifying themselves with cold water before the head priest throws the shingi into the darkened hall, triggering a frantic struggle believed to bring good fortune for the year ahead to whoever secures one. The festival is widely billed as one of Japan’s three major “eccentric” festivals and in 2016 was designated by the central government as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property. The event has a history of serious accidents. The 2007 and 1987 festivals both saw a fatality among participants and emergency services are regularly required to intervene. Organisers acknowledged that three men being left unconscious was unprecedented and said it could threaten the future of the event. “We pray for the recovery of those who were taken to hospital and our first priority will be to investigate the cause of the accident,” Minoru Omori, chairman of the Saidaiji Eyo Support Association, told Sanyo News. “After that, we would like to consider revising the rules.” Another member of the organisation told Fuji News Network that the event may have to be cancelled in the future. Organisers declined to comment further but noted that alcohol tests were carried out because some participants drank to ward off the cold. After the fatal accident in 2007, in which a man was crushed to death in the melee, additional rules were introduced, including a ban on jewellery. An academic said accidents at traditional cultural events were not uncommon, pointing to the death of a 52-year-old man who was crushed during a test run of a festival float in Osaka in October 2023, as well as the death of a staff member at the Waterbomb Osaka festival three months earlier after he was struck by a high-pressure water jet. He suggested that three serious injuries at a single event could amount to misfortune rather than systemic failure. “Taken in isolation, it appears quite serious, but there have been countless other incidents and, we must remember, more than 150 people died in Seoul on Halloween in 2022,” said the professor, who declined to be named. “An over- or under-reaction is very subjective, but the Japanese are very risk-averse, almost to the point of absurdity,” he said, suggesting that organisers might feel forced to restrict numbers or introduce further safety measures. “But at what point do we draw the line between public safety and what could be just random human error?” Online, opinion was divided between preserving tradition and tightening safety. “While local festivals are religious ceremonies, they are also important events that provide a way for energetic young people to release stress and I would not like to see them decline, but I think a review of how they are run is necessary,” one comment on the Fuji News website said. “I cannot understand the thinking of the organisers, who continue with this festival despite the fact that participants have died in the past,” added another. “It was easy to imagine an accident occurring in the bizarre situation of a human sandwich in the temple, with no space between people,” said another post. “Especially considering there have been fatal accidents in the past.” In Okayama City, some residents voiced concern that the incident could jeopardise a fixture of the local calendar. “People participate in the festival knowing that it will be dangerous. It’s a fierce battle but it’s also an important event that livens up the local area. I’m worried that this is going to affect future festivals,” one resident told a local newspaper.

Future of Japan’s ‘naked festival’ in doubt after 3 men left unconscious

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Organisers said they would review safety rules after six men collapsed during the annual scramble for good-luck talismans

Organisers said they would review safety rules after six men collapsed during the annual scramble for good-luck talismans