At left are Christmas presents from my host family to prove that, yes, I have a real addiction, and, yes, they do exacerbate it by sending me more Hello Kitty things than I could ever find use for. I have Hello Kitty wine glasses. Wine glasses.
Today is St. Patrick's Day, which for most college students is another excuse to drink heavily and engage in some reckless behaviors. But for cleaner, more perverted fun, one could visit Komaki, a Japanese town shortly out of Nagoya. Every year on March 15, citizens gather to for a penis festival that celebrates fertility and the harvest. Check out an article and slideshow about the event here; the girl in red on photos 12-14 is actually a friend of mine.
Unfortunately, I didn't make it to the penis festival when I lived in Nagoya in 2008. However, I did attend Hadaka Matsuri, or the Naked Festival, which is also held outside Nagoya. Check out some of my photos, which surprisingly display no nudity.
Doesn't this just look like a motivational poster?
Basically, one naked man is chased around by many men wearing loincloths. If they catch the naked man and touch him, it will give them good luck. I believe in this festival, the naked man had scraps of fabric that the other men tried to get. Once the loincloth-men obtained the lucky fabric, they ripped scraps of it to give out to the crowd. This guy traded some of his for a cigarette.
I got a strip of the pink fabric, but I'm not sure how lucky the festival really was. Apparently there were several hospitalizations because of the bitter February cold (and water was splashed on the barely clothed men in order to "purify" them). Additionally, a couple yakuza members showed up for the ride. As if the festival wasn't rough enough!
Thank you for drawing these festivals to my attention. It is good to see communities that are not afraid of the naked human form.
ReplyDeleteBreaking down the prejudice that surrounds nudity is important, as the body shame propagated by prudishness has a very negative effect on people. Naturists realise this and enjoy greater confidence as a consequence. Children especially gain from this.
BTW: I have a 21 year-old daughter who is also keen on 'Hello Kitty'...
Brian, thanks for the comment! Glad to hear there are other Hello Kitty fans out there.
ReplyDeleteI do want to clarify a couple things, though. Japan has certain festivals that celebrate fertility and other ideals through nudity and it also is very accepting of nudity within certain contexts, like at public baths. However, it would be wrong to think that showing skin is seen as more acceptable there than here. For instance, it is not very commonplace for women to wear spaghetti strap tank tops over there or to expose cleavage. My friend was pulled aside by a teacher for a talk about modesty after she wore a shirt that would have been acceptable dress in American or Western Europe. Naturalist beaches and colonies are unheard of there.