The Saidai-ji Hadaka Matsuri is more famously known as the Okayama Naked Man festival. It’s one of the three most eccentric festivals of Japan. Up to nine thousand men wearing only loincloths (Fundoshi in japanese) struggle fiercely with one another over a pair of lucky sacred sticks (Shingi in Japanese), thrown into the crowd by the priest from a window 4m up. Anyone who luckily gets hold of the shingi and thrusts them upright in a wooden measuring box known as a “Masu” which is heaped with rice is called the lucky man, and is blessed with a year of happiness.

The origins of this festival date back 500 years when worshipers competed to receive paper talismans called Go-o thrown by the priest. These paper talismans were tokens of the completion of New Year ascetic training by the priests. As those people receiving these paper talismans had good things happen to them, the number of people requesting them increased year by year. However, as paper was easily torn, the talismans were changed to the wooden ofuda that we know today.

Shouting out ‘Wasshoi! Wasshoi!’ the almost naked men approach the precincts. Although this festival takes place in winter, the fervor of the men waiting impatiently is so strong that they seem to have difficulty breathing, which is why water is splashed over them. Precisely at midnight, the lights are turned off all at once, the sacred sticks are thrown into the crowd, and the vehement rush to grab the sticks starts. Even if someone is lucky enough to get hold of the sacred sticks, they are quickly snatched away by others, almost like a rugby game.

There are paid seats available and if you want to have a good view on the festivals main-event then i suggest you spend a bit of money on them although you need to be quick – they are sold on the Saidaiji website and sell out months before the event. Places to stand are also available and can be bought from the festival committee headquarter during the day of the event.

Transport: Saidai-ji temple is about 10km to the east of Okayama-city. (about 3 hours drive south of Osaka). Traffic moves slowly and roads are usually congested … the best option is to take the train. There are also additional buses driving back to Okayaman JR Station after the event.

Website: The official website (all in Japanese) is the one here and there is also some information about it on the JNTO homepage in English.

How cool is that! – Suntory Japan managed to come up with a sparkling chocolate flavored drink!

The drink almost tastes like normal chocolate milk … except that it has sparkles in it. It has a very rich heavy flavor that makes it almost feel like you are drinking real chocolate milk, except that the after taste does smell very chemical.

A closer look at the ingredients confirm my suspicions:  Syrup, Flavors, Sugar, Caffeine.

I only had a few sips before i gave up on this drink and spilled it down the drain. I love new drinks – but like most of the ones i flavored it doesn’t quite cut it for main stream taste – but keep trying Suntory!

The Nankinmachi Shunsetu Sai (Chinese New Year) is celebrated every year in the month of February in Kobes Chinatown (Nankinmachi quarters). The festivals involves a number of performances showcasing Chinese culture, from dragon dancing to parades of colorful dressed historic figures … and of course a lot of Chinese food.

The festival is mostly centered on a single street holding a little stage for performances in the middle of it. It does get crowded very quickly and i was struggling to move into a good position to shoot some pictures. Might be a good idea to come early if you want a good spot!

There are also Chinese New Year festivals in other cities all over Japan. Tokyo has one and especially the Nagasaki lantern festival is known as one of the biggest and nicest Chinese festivals.

Transport: JR Kobe Line, Motomachi Station (3min from Sannomiya Station,25min from Osaka Station) or
Hanshin Main Line, Motomachi Station (3min from Sannomiya Station,30min from Umeda Station). There is also plenty of car parking available if you don’t mind paying the parking fees.

Websites: Nankinmachi has it’s own festival website (all in Japanese).

Setsubun is the day before the beginning of each season, but historically usually refers to the Spring season because after the winter this was kind of thought as the beginning of a new year and therefore an important day to celebrate and pray for good luck.

It’s usually celebrated all over Japan by throwing beans (mame-beans) at each other and shouting “Oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi” (Demons out, Luck in!). The Kasuga Taisha in Nara however celebrates Setsubun a bit different than most others by lighting up 1,000 lanterns and without any throwing of beans and shouting.

Transport: From Kintetsu Nara Train Station you can walk or take a bus.

Website: The Kasuga Taisha website has information in Japanese.

There are dozens of hadaka (=naked) festivals each year in Japan and today i was visiting this one in Ogaki, in Gifu prefecture. Each year in the afternoon of February 3rd the people of this town hold this event, but if you want there is nothing stopping you to enter this festival too .. just bring some Fundoshi (loin cloth) and some white socks and you’ll be good to join!

The weather this year was absolute fantastic for this kind of festival. It was freezing cold and snowing (sometimes raining) – which makes the act of defying the cold so much more challenging. Nevermind the buckets of cold water that people were throwing to make sure that everyone got wet and freezing (even us photographers in the first row) … i am just glad that my camera survived without any damage.

The concept of Hadaka festivals originated in Okayama (the Saidaiji Eyo Hadaka Matsuri) which every years draws more then 10’000 men participating in the event. That said, this festivals in Ogaki was on a much smaller level but never got boring either. It also draws a lot less people (or maybe that was just because of the weather?!) which is always a good thing if you actually try to move around and get some pictures shot rather then wasting time stuck somewhere in the 3rd row behind a crowd.

Transport: 15 minute walk from Yoro Railroad Tomoe Station. Or, take the Meihan Kintetsu bus from JR Ogaki Station to “Noguchi” bus stop. There is plenty of parking space available on the other side of the river should you intend to come by car.

Website: There is some simple website from the Ogaki Festival Committee (all in Japanese) available, but other than that it’s kind of hard to find lot’s of information about it anywhere.

Burning down a mountain is something i wouldn’t want to miss seeing once. Each year in middle of January (i think usually it’s on the 15th – but this year it was on the 23rd) a spectacle like this can be seen in Nara when they burn the dry grass on the Wakakusa Hill.

Wakakusa Yamayaki starts around 5.30pm with purification rituals and prayers for safety during the event, followed by a fireworks display around 6pm. Shortly after the fireworks the dead winter grass at the base of Wakakusa Hill is ignited. This is done by priests dressed as warriors, using torches lit with the sacred flame from Kasuga Shrine. I didn’t see those priests (was arriving in Nara a bit late and got even more delayed trying to find a parking space) but hopefully i will get another chance next year to make some pictures of them too.

The fires spread quickly and by 6.20-6.30pm the whole hill is engulfed in flames. The best view is from the foot of the hill in Nara Park. The spectacle draws in quite a bit of a crowd but because the mountain can be seen from pretty much anywhere in Nara it shouldn’t be a problem to find a good viewing spot with clear sight – i found a good spot that wasn’t too crowded to set up my tripod at the green outside the Todaiji-temple grounds. The whole thing is over rather quickly – so make sure you get to your place before 6pm or you gonna miss out on it.

Transport: Within walking distance of the Nara train station. Parking for car is available but i suggest you come early as a lot of spectators arrive after 5pm and parking spaces fill up quickly.

Website: Nara Tourist information has information about it with a schedule of the event (all in Japanese). If you go back to the startpage of this site you will be able to set the language to English but there isn’t much information available except the date.

Every Sunday closest to January 15th they have an archery contest on the temple grounds next to the Sanjusangen-do building. In the old times archers were shooting on targets 120m away from them, nowadays the distance is shortened a bit to 60m, which is still very very very far away and needs a lot of skills (or should i say “luck” ?) to hit it with those old wooden traditional Japanese style long bows.

There will be over 2,000 archers competing in this contest and everybody will get a chance to shoot at least 2 arrows(I think you will get another round if you hit at least one). The festival mostly celebrates 20 year olds (coming into age) from all over Japan … but at later hours professional archers that are older will also start to compete. The contest begins from 9am in the morning and runs till 4pm in the afternoon. There are a lot of young girls nicely dressed in kimonos (or yukatas) taking part of it. I was watching between 12pm and 2pm and only saw girls shooting … but there were also a lot of young men dressed in formal samurai hakama cloths waiting their turn.

Transport: Close to Hakubutsukan Sanjusangendo-mae bus stop by City Bus No. 206 or No. 208 from Kyoto Station. Or, 7 minutes’ walk from Keihan Railways’ Shichijo Station. Parking is very limited, but if you are lucky (like i was) then you will find some on the shrine-grounds.

Website: Japan National Tourism organization has some info about it in English and the official Sanjusangen-do website (in Japanese) should show you the exact date as it is changing every year.

Today was a small kite flying festival on the horse racetrack of Himeji. Flying kites is a popular pastime in Japan (actually most of Asia). It’s one of those cultural things that i just had to go see for myself at least once while i am still here in Japan. This was the 36th time that they had this kite flying festival in Himeji and every year it’s gaining in popularity with kite flying clubs and associations traveling from all over Japan to Himeji. The festival is held in early January (the exact date changes from year to year).

Transport: 15 minutes from JR/San’yo Himeji Station by Shinki Bus to Keibajo-mae

Website: Himeji Tourist Information website has some info about this in Japanese. I couldn’t find any good English website for this event as it’s only a small festival and not very much advertised.

I just got to see my first matsuri in 2010. The “Toka Ebisu” festival is a big event for business owners as they go visit the shrines and pray for good luck and fortunes for their business. Ebisu (or familiarly called “Ebessan” in Kansai diallect) is the patron deity of business and fishery. Normal people also like to go and pray for happiness and success in the new year.

The festival is popular in the whole Kansai area where there are many shrines dedicated to Ebisu. The Imamiya Ebisu Shrine in the city center of Osaka is particularly popular and is drawing in huge number of visitors coming to visit the place and enjoy the hunderds of food-stalls located around the vicinity.  This is a grand event which has continued ever since the Edo Period (17th-19th Century) when Osaka used to thrive as a commercial town. January 10th is the main festival day, and the 9th is called the Eve of Ebisu, while the 11th is known as the “Last Helping of Luck.” The famous Ebisu Bridge over the Dotonbori River was originally built for worshippers visiting this shrine.

The ritual of this festival is to come to the shrine and replace the old bamboo-twig from the year ago. Lucky charms, dolls and other blessed ornaments can be bought at the shrine to decorate the twigs. The twig will then be hanged somewhere on the wall in the office.

Transport: Near Imamiya Ebisu Station on the Nankai Koya Line. Or 5 minutes’ walk from Daikoku-cho Station on the Midosuji subway or from Ebisu-machi Station on the Sakaisuji subway.

Website: As always, JNTO has some information about it in English and the Imamiya Ebisu shrine website (in Japanese) has all the details of it (Shedule, Streetmap, etc).

I haven’t visited any festivals recently (matsuri season is over!) so i was thrilled to find out about this Yassai Hossai fire walking festival. It’s held each year on the 14th of December in Sakai and within easy reach of my location.

The festival started with a legend of fishermen warming up an image of their deity (a god for good fishing named Ebisu) which had drifted ashore near Iwatsuta Shrine, by burning 108 bundles of firewood. The Japanese “Yassai Hossai” originates from the words “108 logs”.

The festival is a bit on the small side and things started a bit unorthodox with the local school band playing YMCA and the local elder ladies club dancing to some loudspeaker music. But around 8pm things started to look up. After a short theater performance (the Ebisu story) they big bonfire was lit … and shortly after (they fire didn’t take too long to burn down!)  the fire walking began … which looked absolutely amazing!

I am planing to go again next year and hopefully that time i will score a position in the first row. This time i was locked in at the 3rd row and had to take pictures by holding my camera over my head … the end result was a lot of blurry shots of feet and wrongly framed objects. Thankfully i still got some usable shots.

Transport: Take the train to Ishizu (or Ishizugawa) both trainstations are within 5 minute walking distance of this shrine. Parking space is very limited so leave your car at home.

Website: The Osaka tourism website has something about it – but it’s a small festival so there isn’t much info available on the net.