In Japan, women were allowed to participate in an ancient ceremony.hadaka matsuriIt is known as the “naked festival”. Although changes are planned, it will be the first time in the event’s history. Thousands of half-naked men attend this celebration, held in February at a Shinto shrine in the central Japanese city of Inazawa, with the aim of driving away evil spirits for the coming year. Organizers of traditional Japanese festivals, often accused of sexism, are beginning to bow to pressure for changes amid fears the events could disappear.
Exceptional
The Hadaka Matsuri festival, which dates back approximately 1,250 years, has until now been reserved only for men, but according to reports in the Japanese press, this year the organizers will allow a group of approximately 40 women to participate in the festival. At the ceremony, which will be held on February 22 this year, women will again be fully clothed. They will make offerings through bamboo grass rituals, but will not be able to attend the “momiai” peak of the festival, where men wear only clothes. fundochia type of traditional thong, stocking subject to and bandanas hachimaki. The ritual serves to transfer bad luck to the “chosen man” by touching him before he retreats to the safety of the sanctuary.
A woman who has wanted to participate since her childhood
To ensure the extraordinary participation of women, a long campaign was required, led by Ayaka Suzuki, who had dreamed of participating in the ritual since childhood. “If I were a man, I could participate,” she told reporters, according to the newspaper. Yomiuri Shimbun. Suzuki added that he would take the opportunity to pray for the safety of his family and those affected by the recent deadly earthquake. The “naked party” isn’t the only one predicting changes.
Risk of disappearance of traditional festivals
Organizers of many such festivals are bowing to pressure to open celebrations to all participants, fearing that rural depopulation could put an end to these events traditionally dominated by local men. In January, for the first time in its 800-year history, women attended the Katsube fire festival in Shiga Prefecture. Organizers of Somin-sai, which is held in the northeastern city of Oshu and requires “minimum” clothing, announced last month that the event would be held for the last time this year. Daigo Fujinami, the high priest of the temple that hosts the thousand-year festival. Mainichi Shimbun He said the decision was made due to the advanced age of most of the local men and the lack of people to supervise the event. Fujinami refused to open the festival to people living outside the city, saying it would not comply with the “basic rituals” that local people had passed down from generation to generation.
Accusations of sexism
However, there are also those who appreciate the efforts of the organizers of the “naked festival” in Japan to renew themselves; They consider this decision, albeit modest, as a step towards advancing gender equality. Another sector where bans continue is sports. For example, women can compete in sumo, but only at the amateur level, before they can climb the dohyo, an earth-covered circle surrounded by half-buried bales of rice straw, used in the six major annual tournaments. In 2018, several women, including a nurse, were reprimanded for “pitch assault”. They had rushed to the sumo dohyo to provide first aid to a local mayor who had collapsed after suffering a stroke. The referee used the public address system to repeatedly order them to leave the ring, but the women refused.
Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
