Mud, Tradition, and Rain: The Centuries-Old Warabi Hadaka Matsuri Festival
The Warabi Hadaka Matsuri, a 200-year-old Japanese harvest festival, involves men wrestling in mud to pray for a good harvest and children's health. Despite urbanization, this tradition persists in Yotsukaido, outside Tokyo, where participants embrace the rain as a blessing during the event.
More than 30 Japanese men clad in loincloths braved cold and rain to participate in the centuries-old Warabi Hadaka Matsuri, a harvest festival outside Tokyo.
Grouped under the rain's gaze, the participants formed human pyramids and engaged in muddy tussles, praying for bountiful crops and healthy children. Takeshi Seino, a regular attendee, attested to the festival's historic significance in the city of Yotsukaido.
Even as modernity encroaches, with farmlands dwindling, the tradition remains vital. 'It hasn't rained much this year, but it poured today,' said Kenji Nagata, 60, embracing the downpour as a 'blessed rain.'
Advertisement
Google News