Top 5 Most Strange Festivals in Japan
Top10Amazing
2016-03-14
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5. Mud Festival
Hundreds of Japanese grown-men wrestle each other in the mud water of Mimusubi shrine in Yotsukaido, a settlement near Tokyo. Every year on February 25 these men take part in this strange yet fun looking rite, believed to bring good harvest for the whole year and good health for babies.
4. Yukake Matsuri Festival
Once a year the little town of Yugawara on the western edge of Kanagawa Prefecture throws a huge onsen festival, celebrating the natural springs of hot water that dot the area with a very wet and very chaotic festival. Townspeople and tourists line the streets with huge buckets of hot water (hence the name, yukakematsuri) and douse the passing omikoshi (made up in the form of traditional onsen style buckets) and their carriers with as much as water as they can. One of the omikoshi were shouldered completely by local young women and naturally they bore the brunt of the hot water assaults! The parade route is a few kilometers long and the streets are lined with everything from adults with water buckets to little kids with water pistols and even local fire departments with industrial sized pumps and fire hoses!
3. Nakizumo Matsuri Festival
Nakizumo (“crying sumo tournament”) originated as a local festival in a small shrine in Tochigi prefecture, north of Tokyo. It has recently gained a country-wide popularity. The tournament rules are pretty simple (and apparently they differ from place to place). Two big men take two small children and present them on a ring against each other. Sometimes sooner sometimes later, the toddlers begin to cry and the one who does it louder wins. The result is delivered by a judge in a traditional attire typical to sumo referees.
Depending on the mood and personality of a baby, for some the bout is more fun than scary and instead of cry they burst in laughter. Some children are so bored and disinterested, they have no intention to cry and fall asleep. In such cases, four additional judges get into action trying to scare the the children by approaching with masks of demons. Japanese people believe that the more children cry, the luckier they get.
2. Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri Festival
the Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri is a fun high-octane festival held in Kishiwada in the south of Osaka. The festival is the biggest and most famous danjiri matsuri in Japan. A danjiri is a traditional Japanese wooden float that has elaborate carvings and is decorated with various ornaments. The wooden floats are made in the shape of a shrine or temple and are pulled through the streets of a neighbourhood during festival days.
The Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri first began in 1703 when the daimyo (feudal lord) of Kishiwada Castle, Okabe Nagayasu prayed to the Shinto gods for an abundant harvest at Fushimi Inari-taisha in Kyoto. Typical of many fall festivals in Japan, the Danjiri Matsuri is essentially a harvest festival to pray for a good autumn bounty.
Today, the festival is considered to be Osaka’s wildest festival and is kind of like their running of the bulls, where local citizens can prove their courage and manhood. Like the running of the bulls in Pamplona there are several casualties every year, so it is not to be taken lightly. The festival is held every year on the weekend before Respect for the Aged Day (Keiro no Hi). This year in 2015 the festival is on from September 19 to 20.
1. Onbashira Matsuri Festival
Onbashira is a festival held every six years in the Lake Suwa area of NaganoOnbashira is a festival held every six years in the Lake Suwa area of Nagano, Japan. The purpose of the festival is to symbolically renew the Suwa Taisha or Suwa Grand Shrine., Japan. The purpose of the festival is to symbolically renew the Suwa Taisha or Suwa Grand Shrine.
Before this portion of the festival, huge trees are cut down in a Shinto ceremony using axes and adzes specially manufactured for this single use. Teams of men drag the logs down the mountain towards the four shrines of Suwa Taisha. The course of the logs goes over rough terrain, and at certain points the logs must be skidded or dropped down steep slopes. Young men prove their bravery by riding the logs down the hill in a ceremony.
Hundreds of Japanese grown-men wrestle each other in the mud water of Mimusubi shrine in Yotsukaido, a settlement near Tokyo. Every year on February 25 these men take part in this strange yet fun looking rite, believed to bring good harvest for the whole year and good health for babies.
4. Yukake Matsuri Festival
Once a year the little town of Yugawara on the western edge of Kanagawa Prefecture throws a huge onsen festival, celebrating the natural springs of hot water that dot the area with a very wet and very chaotic festival. Townspeople and tourists line the streets with huge buckets of hot water (hence the name, yukakematsuri) and douse the passing omikoshi (made up in the form of traditional onsen style buckets) and their carriers with as much as water as they can. One of the omikoshi were shouldered completely by local young women and naturally they bore the brunt of the hot water assaults! The parade route is a few kilometers long and the streets are lined with everything from adults with water buckets to little kids with water pistols and even local fire departments with industrial sized pumps and fire hoses!
3. Nakizumo Matsuri Festival
Nakizumo (“crying sumo tournament”) originated as a local festival in a small shrine in Tochigi prefecture, north of Tokyo. It has recently gained a country-wide popularity. The tournament rules are pretty simple (and apparently they differ from place to place). Two big men take two small children and present them on a ring against each other. Sometimes sooner sometimes later, the toddlers begin to cry and the one who does it louder wins. The result is delivered by a judge in a traditional attire typical to sumo referees.
Depending on the mood and personality of a baby, for some the bout is more fun than scary and instead of cry they burst in laughter. Some children are so bored and disinterested, they have no intention to cry and fall asleep. In such cases, four additional judges get into action trying to scare the the children by approaching with masks of demons. Japanese people believe that the more children cry, the luckier they get.
2. Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri Festival
the Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri is a fun high-octane festival held in Kishiwada in the south of Osaka. The festival is the biggest and most famous danjiri matsuri in Japan. A danjiri is a traditional Japanese wooden float that has elaborate carvings and is decorated with various ornaments. The wooden floats are made in the shape of a shrine or temple and are pulled through the streets of a neighbourhood during festival days.
The Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri first began in 1703 when the daimyo (feudal lord) of Kishiwada Castle, Okabe Nagayasu prayed to the Shinto gods for an abundant harvest at Fushimi Inari-taisha in Kyoto. Typical of many fall festivals in Japan, the Danjiri Matsuri is essentially a harvest festival to pray for a good autumn bounty.
Today, the festival is considered to be Osaka’s wildest festival and is kind of like their running of the bulls, where local citizens can prove their courage and manhood. Like the running of the bulls in Pamplona there are several casualties every year, so it is not to be taken lightly. The festival is held every year on the weekend before Respect for the Aged Day (Keiro no Hi). This year in 2015 the festival is on from September 19 to 20.
1. Onbashira Matsuri Festival
Onbashira is a festival held every six years in the Lake Suwa area of NaganoOnbashira is a festival held every six years in the Lake Suwa area of Nagano, Japan. The purpose of the festival is to symbolically renew the Suwa Taisha or Suwa Grand Shrine., Japan. The purpose of the festival is to symbolically renew the Suwa Taisha or Suwa Grand Shrine.
Before this portion of the festival, huge trees are cut down in a Shinto ceremony using axes and adzes specially manufactured for this single use. Teams of men drag the logs down the mountain towards the four shrines of Suwa Taisha. The course of the logs goes over rough terrain, and at certain points the logs must be skidded or dropped down steep slopes. Young men prove their bravery by riding the logs down the hill in a ceremony.
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