women in Japan have received permission to participate in the traditional naked festival, known as hadaka matsuri, marking a historic departure from the event’s longstanding tradition of exclusion.
This annual ceremony, held at a Shinto shrine in Inazawa, central Japan, involves thousands of nearly nude men aiming to ward off evil spirits for the upcoming year.
Since its inception about 1,250 years ago, the hadaka matsuri has been strictly reserved for men.
However, recent reports indicate that organizers will make an exception for approximately 40 women on February 22.
These women will be fully clothed and will engage in the festival by making ritual offerings of bamboo grass.
Nevertheless, they won’t partake in the festival’s momiai climax, where men, clad only in fundoshi, tabi socks, and hachimaki bandanas, engage in symbolic clashes to transfer bad luck to a “chosen man.”
Ayaka Suzuki, a proponent for lifting the unofficial ban on women’s participation, expressed her childhood desire to partake in the festival.
“I could have participated had I been a boy,” she shared with reporters, emphasizing her intention to pray for her family’s safety and those affected by a recent earthquake.
Pressure on festival organizers to open events to a broader audience has been mounting, fueled by concerns about rural depopulation potentially jeopardizing traditions dominated by local men.
Earlier this month, women participated in the Katsube fire festival in Shiga prefecture for the first time in its 800-year history.
However, not all festivals are evolving in this manner.
The Somin-sai in Oshu, featuring minimal clothing, announced its final iteration due to the advanced ages of local men and a shortage of event overseers.
The chief priest, Daigo Fujinami, dismissed suggestions to open the festival to outsiders, emphasizing the preservation of “core rituals” passed down through generations.
While the inclusion of women in the revamped naked festival is viewed by some as a positive step for gender equality, certain aspects of traditional Japanese life, such as the dohyo ring used in sumo wrestling, remain off-limits to women.
Despite participating in amateur sumo, women are barred from professional competition and forbidden from stepping onto the dohyo during the six main tournaments held annually.
This restriction led to controversy in 2018 when women, including a nurse, defied orders to leave the ring as they administered first aid to a collapsed local mayor during a sumo event, prompting allegations of sexism within the sport.
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