Warabi Hadaka Matsuri 和良比はだか祭り

Published on : 19/02/2019
by : I.D.O.

The Mud Festival

Warabi Hadaka matsuri is a unique festival that takes place on February 25 in Yotsukaido. Near naked men smear babies with straws soaked in the mud...

Located in Chiba Prefecture, about an hour by train from Tokyo, Yotsukaido is a very ordinary suburban town. However, every February 25, a strange festival takes place there: Warabi Hadaka matsuri, literally the "naked Warabi festival" also called the "mud festival". During this event, half-naked men holding a baby in their arms throw themselves into a pool of mud to dip a straw with which they will smear the toddler.

To read: Hadaka Matsuri, the feast of nudity

A ceremony of Shinto origin

The "party" begins in front of the small Shintô shrine Mimusubi located at the top of a hill on the borders of Yotsukaidô. Despite the biting cold of February, the participants wear only a fundoshi, a small loincloth of white fabric used as a cache-sex. They congregate in front of the sanctuary where, after a short ceremony during which the Shinto priest "blessed" the crowd and the protagonists, they will grab hold of a long sacred straw.

It is about praying for the coming harvests and the healthy growth of the children.

The parents or sometimes their wives will entrust their babies (between a few months and a maximum of three years) to the "naked men" (thus undressed to prove their bravery in this winter cold) so that they smear them with mud, a guarantee of good health.

A strange procession

It is then that a strange procession sets off: the naked men, each carrying a baby in their arms, descend in single file down the hill which leads to a small rice field reduced to the state of a muddy pond. They enter carefully and dip their straw with which they draw marks on the forehead of the toddler so that this ritual ensures good health and protects him from evil spirits.

In the crowd of spectators, no one seems to doubt the effectiveness of this method. Once the baby has been smeared, the participants go back to the shrine to return it to their parents and pick up other toddlers, as it is customary for this act to take place at least three times (an auspicious figure in Japan).

A mud bath

Once all the babies are smeared with mud and thus protected, the heroes of the day gather in front of a wood fire where they warm themselves with a lot of glasses of hot sake.

However, their task is not finished, the worst (or the most amusing?) remains to be done. The 'naked men' will have to throw themselves into the frozen mud paddy field, to perform an act of communion with the earth supposed to bring good harvests. They will therefore descend the slope again and throw themselves into the muddy water of the rice field, three times in a row.

There they will form groups with a few men perched on the shoulders of others who will try to knock down those in the opposing group(s). Once the groups have fallen, the participants go back up to the sanctuary, warm themselves again over a wood fire and sake and return to frolic in the same way in the mud. At each ascent, they have fun smearing copiously with mud the people who are on their way. The atmosphere is friendly and everyone is happy, it brings good luck!

The participants, more and more chilled, will warm up a bit more before going to take a well-deserved shower!