Page 54 - Iwate News Today

An event known as the naked man festival, said to have run for more than 1,000 years, was held for the last time on Saturday, becoming the latest Japanese tradition to fall victim to the countrys aging population crisis.

/PRNewswire/ -- Japan is synonymous with exemplary design and yet has no dedicated national museum of design. Leading Japanese designers from different...

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<a class="excerpt-read-more" href="https://whdh.com/news/japans-millennia-old-naked-man-festival-ending-because-of-population-decline/">Read More</a>

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.

AFP | Oshu...

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.

Japans historic Somin-sai Naked Men Festival in Iwate prefecture concludes after a thousand-year run, marking the end of an era. Aging organizers cite the burden of maintaining the labor-intensive event amidst declining demographics. Participants engage in fervent rituals, bidding farewell with hopes for a revival in modified formats.

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.As the festival reached its climax, hundreds of men packed inside the wooden temple shouting, chanting and aggressively jostling over a bag of talismans.

RIKUZENTAKATA, Iwate Prefecture--A 93-year-old woman here who survived the Great East Japan Earthquake seems to have drunk from the Fountain of Youth.

Sominsai at the temple, often referred to as one of the most bizarre festivals in Japan, was an event held usually through the night.