Japanese women were allowed to participate in the “naked” men’s festival for the first time (9 photos)
For the first time in the 1,250-year history of the Japanese Naked Man Festival, women will take part in it. In February, 40 women will join 10 thousand half-naked men. 
"Hadaka Matsuri" is an annual Japanese festival-procession, which usually involves half-naked men with a minimum of clothing, often wearing traditional loincloths. They make a procession in hopes of getting good luck during the new year. In the process, they parade around the city, dousing each other with buckets of ice water and sipping sake. For the first time in the festival's 1,250-year history, women were allowed to participate, so this year, on February 17, a group of 40 women will join the procession. 
The women will take part in the naoizasa ritual, during which they will carry bamboo leaves wrapped in cloth to the shrine grounds. However, they will remain fully clothed and will not participate in the main action. The organizers explained that there were many requests from women to participate:
"For the last three years, we have not been able to hold the festival as before due to the pandemic. During this time, we have received many requests from women who want to take part in it. Although there were no serious bans on girls participating before, they never dared to join "said Mitsugu Katayama, a member of the festival's organizing committee. 
The Hadaka Matsuri is held in dozens of locations throughout Japan. The festival is based on a ritual dating back half a millennium, when at the Saidai-ji Kannon-in Temple, a minister would throw paper go-o talismans and parishioners would catch them. In the modern version of the festival, the temple minister first throws two incense sticks-singhi into the crowd. The one who catches the wand promises good luck for the whole next year. Then another hundred lucky talismans are thrown into the crowd, for which there is a fight. 
