Received from my program director last week:

From: Satoshi Tsukamoto
Sent: Tue 2/12/2008 5:04 PM
Subject: Naked men's festival on Feb. 17, 2007

Dear all,

Naked Men's Festival will take place at Konomiya Shrine on Feburary 19th (Tuesday). To get there, you take a Meitetsu train. [Directions follow].

On February 19th, there are going to be a lot of people watching this festival as well as a lot of half-naked men (Hadaka Otoko,裸男), so be careful about pickpokets [sic] and drunken men.

I am going to participate in the festival and am going to walk to the Konomiya Shrine from Yawase-cho (my home town). When you want to watch me marching on the street, please take a Meitetsu bus from Konomiya station ( 国府宮)to Yawase Kannon Mae (矢合観音前). [Directions follow]. You can see me between 1:15 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. around the Yawase Kannon Mae bus stop. After watching me and other half-naked men, you can take a bus to Konomiya station and watch other (half-naked men) Hadaka Otoko. When you do not have time, you do not have to come to Yawase cho. Instead, you can watch a lot of half-naked men around the Konomiya station after 3 pm.

I will give you a brief description of Konomiya Naked Festival (Konomiya Hadaka Matsuri).

Konomiya Naked Festival takes place every year on January 13 of the lunar calendar, which is February 19th this year. The festival started in 767 A.D., so this festival has 1241 year history, and this festival is regarded as one of the most weird or strangest festivals in Japan.

One day before the festival, a huge rice cake is carried to the Konomiya Shrine where the festival is held. You can watch many people bringing the huge rice cake probably between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. around the Konomiya Shrine. A week before the festival, what we call "the man of god," (神男）is chosen among citizens. Then he will shut himself up in the Shrine and shaves the hair all over his body, and he has only rice and water for several days until the festival comes. The man of god represents a divine character, and this practice purifies his body and spirit, making him sacred.

On the day of the festival, a lot of men wrapped up in bleached cotton on the lower half of the body, which is similar to the appearance of a Sumo wrestler, go to the Konomiya Shrine. They usually form a group ranging from 10 to 200 members when they leave their village or town.

On the way they swing in the street with a long bamboo tree bound by cloth, drinking a lot of rice wine. They dedicate the bamboo to the Konomiya Shrine, hoping that their wish will come true. Some men go home after that, but some wait for the appearance of "the man of god."

The man of god appears at around 4 o'clock in the evening, but his appearance is unnoticeable for most of the participants. Even though he is completely naked, spectators cannot see him because hundreds of half-naked men surround him as soon as the man of god appears in the front yard of the Konomiya Shrine.

As soon as the man of god turns up in the front yard, hundreds of half-naked men throng around him and desperately try to touch him. If one touches him, one is believed to get rid of misfortune in the following 12 months. It is extremely difficult to touch "the man of god" because of the huge crowds who push themselves to the center where the man of god is lying, but I succeeded in touching him three times so far.

Based on Shintoism, Japanese people regard men's 23 and 42 years old as the ages at which men suffer from a misfortune, because men at age 23 and 42 are, physically and mentally, at a turning point in their lives. The festival is for those two age groups who are somehow vulnerable, but men at all ages can participate in the festival.

Hundreds of half naked men push themselves to reach the man of god.The water is sprinkled over the crowd by dozens of men, and it is spectacular to see that the water soon becomes steam. The man of god usually faints several times with many scars in his body. He is usually dedicated to the Konomiya Shrine after one-hour jostle.

Please come to the Konomiya Shrine on February 19th(Tuesday) when you have time. This can be an once-in-a-life experience for you. Usually half-naked men (Hadaka Otoko) starts to visit the Konomiya Shrine at 2 o'clock.

Best wishes,

Satoshi Tsukamoto, Ph.D.
Director of Student Services
IES (Institute for the International Education of Students) Nagoya
202 Greenhouse Kichi 3-10-15 Konomiya
Inazawa-shi Aichi-ken 492-8137 Japan