Matsuri, Japanese festivals, are traditional festive occasions often
celebrated with dance and music. Most festivals are held annually and
celebrate the shrine's deity or a seasonal or historical event.
An important element of Japanese festivals are processions, in which
the local shrine's kami (Shinto deity) is carried through the town in
mikoshi (palanquins). It is the only time of the year when the kami
leaves the shrine to be carried around town.
There are three of the most traditional festivals:
Konomiya Hadaka Matsuri, Inazawa 13th day of the Lunar calendar
The festival, also known as the Naked Man Festival, takes place
annually on the 13th day of the lunar calendar when believers and
thousands of men wearing loincloths gather at Owari Okunitama-jinja
Shrine in the normally quiet Aichi city of Inazawa, to pray for good
luck.
Teams from all over the city wear no more protection from the winter
chill than a loincloth and a few swigs of fortifying sake as they parade
through the town.
The parade passes along the passage to Konomiya-jinja Shrine where
the local groups demonstrate their strength and dexterity carrying large
bamboo poles, called "naoi-zasa, into the shrine.
Honen Matsuri, Aichi Prefecture
15 March 2024
Dating back 1,500 years, the Tagata Jinja Shrine in the Aichi
prefecture is filled with man-made and naturally formed penis shaped
items worshipped for fertility.
The shrine plays host to the annual fertility festival, the Honen
Matsuri, in March but guests are welcome to visit year-round. During the
festival, celebrants line up to rub the stones and statues, praying for
a good harvest and fertility.
The highlight of the matsuri is a two-metre-long wooden penis sculpture that is carried through the crowd.
Nachi Ougi Matsuri, Wakayama
Every year on 14 July, a stone staircase to the Nachi Waterfall from
the Kumano Nachi Taisha Grand Shrine stages the Nachi Ougi Matsuri.
Also known as the Nachi Fire Festival, it sees participants carrying
the flaming torches amidst loud religious chanting and thick smoke.
The Nachi Ougi Matsuri is a Shinto ritual where 12 portable shrines
which represent the 12 divine spirits of the waterfall are purified by
fire.