Published 3 months ago

Japan's 'naked men' festival succumbs to population ageing

Festivals across Japan involve men wearing loincloths, freezing water baths, and talisman fights.
The Kokuseki Temple in Iwate ends its annual Sominsai festival due to the aging faithful struggling to cope with event logistics.
Amid Japan's aging population, Kokuseki Temple plans to replace the festival with prayer ceremonies to continue its spiritual practices.

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The Hindu

Japan's 'naked men' festival succumbs to population ageing

The Sominsai festival, regarded as one of the strangest festivals in Japan, is the latest tradition impacted by the country’s ageing population crisis that has hit rural communities hard.

2 months ago·India

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NDTV

Japan's 'Naked Men' Festival Succumbs To Population Ageing

A steam of sweat rose as hundreds of naked men tussled over a bag of wooden talismans, performing a dramatic end to a thousand-year-old ritual in Japan that took place for the last time. Their passionate chants of "jasso, joyasa" (meaning "evil, be gone") echoed through a ceder forest of the northern Japan's Iwate region, where the secluded Kokuseki Temple has decided to end the popular annual rite. Organising the event, which draws hundreds of …

3 months ago·New Delhi, India

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Hindustan Times

Japan's 'naked men' festival succumbs to population ageing

Organising the event, which draws several tourists, has become a burden for the ageing local faithful, who find it hard to keep up with rigours of the ritual.

3 months ago·New Delhi, India

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KRDO

Japan’s millennia-old ‘naked man festival’ ending because of population decline

By Chris Lau and Himari Semans, CNN Tokyo (CNN) — In near-freezing winter temperatures and wearing nothing but white loincloths, throngs of men wrestle one another in a bid to a claim a talisman during Japan’s Somin-sai festival – more famously known as the “naked man festival.” But the event, said to have run for over 1,000 years at the secluded Kokusekiji Temple, was held for the last time on Saturday, becoming the latest Japanese tradition to…

2 months ago·Colorado Springs, United States

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South China Morning Post

Nude awakening: Japan’s ‘naked men’ festival succumbs to ageing population

The Kokuseki Temple in Iwate ended its annual naked men festival, which has become a heavy burden for ageing locals, who find it hard to keep up with the rigours of the ritual.

3 months ago·Hong Kong

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Channel News Asia

Japan's 'naked men' festival succumbs to population ageing

OSHU, Japan: A steam of sweat rose as hundreds of naked men tussled over a bag of wooden talismans, performing a dramatic end to a thousand-year-old ritual in Japan that took place for the last time. Their passionate chants of "jasso, joyasa" (meaning "evil, be gone") echoed through a cedar forest of north

2 months ago·Singapore

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