Festival of fear: they will smear themselves with mud and run after people (6 photos)

Okinawa has a festival called "dirty spirits against evil". It's a bit scary, and in my opinion, more fun than Halloween. On this day, you also need to walk around the city looking creepy, but covered in mud.





How sticky it is... sticky and fun!

Who are paantu

These are mythical creatures that are considered spirits of the earth. According to legend, they must leave their kingdom to bestow good luck on local residents. They live in a deep well, because it is believed that a well is a direct path to paradise above the sea.



You know what there are a lot of at this festival - LAUGHING JAPANESE

To make them more willing to come out, men from Miyakojima Island dress up as them. And in a crowd of such "weirdos" you can't tell who is a disguised person and who is a real spirit who boldly walks in a grimy parade.

Paantu must wear long masks that cover their faces. Usually they travel in groups of three. These are family groups: uya-paantu, nnaka paantu and ffa-paantu - parent, middle and children's paantu respectively.





Ha, ha, they are hilarious and gorgeous

The mud they are covered with is obtained from a special spring called mmaliga. Before their parade, the paantu hold morning prayers with priestesses and participate in and drink from ritual springs.

By the way! If you've seen Spirited Away, then Miyazaki was inspired by the paantu to create No-Face.

The Dirtiest Fun



A dirty child and a laughing dad

But the funniest thing is the festive "parade" through the streets of the town. The thing is that the paantu must dirty everything it touches! This could be a car you left on the road, a dog, even a child (if it doesn't run away). They smear dirt from themselves, usually enough for the whole town! It is believed that such behavior drives away evil from the entire area.



Whoever doesn't want to get dirty will be caught and smeared!

By evening, half the city is usually dirty, but it's fun!

This is a small but very popular festival among tourists. Due to the fact that admission is free, in recent years it has become a real crowd. Dirty crush!



If I wanted to save my car, I would have driven it away in advance. And he just wanted protection of the spirits

I think this is one of the rare festivals in Japan where the spirit prevails over the formalism of the old tradition.