The annual Saidai-ji Eyo hadaka matsuri (nudity festival), a ritual said to have originated in the Muromachi Period (1338-1573), was held last Saturday at the Saidai-ji Kannon-in temple in Okayama’s Higashi Ward.

Thousands of men dressed in traditional loincloth packed into the temple grounds and grappled for a pair of shingi (sacred wood), each measuring about 20cm long, and tossed from the window of the temple’s main altar.

According to local belief, those who manage to get their hands on the wooden amulet and race out of the temple’s precincts will be blessed with good fortune for the rest of the year.

Credits: Asahicom@YT & Yeinjee