Konomiya Hadaka Matsuri

Overview

Konomiya Hadaka Matsuri is a sacred rite held at Owari Okunitama Shrine, popularly known as Konomiya, in Inazawa City, Aichi Prefecture, and its formal name is the Naoi Shinji. Held each year mainly on the thirteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar, it is known throughout Japan as one of the most extraordinary festivals in the land, from the scene in which several thousand naked men, wearing only white loincloths of bleached cloth and white tabi, jostle fiercely in the shrine precincts. The fervor of the naked men, who seek to shed their misfortunes by touching the shin-otoko, the man who bears their calamity, wraps the midwinter Konomiya in clouds of steam.

This rite is rooted in a faith that prays for the dispelling of epidemics and for protection from misfortune, and it has long been cherished as a festival that announces the coming of spring to the Owari region. Along with the jostling of the naked men, the depth of this festival lies in a series of distinctive observances, such as the offering of a gigantic great mirror rice cake weighing about four tons, and the yonaoi shinji, in which the shin-otoko, laden with sin and impurity, is driven away. Far more than merely a spirited naked festival, it is a rare example in which a rite of exorcism handed down since ancient times still continues to this day.

History and Origins

The origins of the Konomiya Hadaka Matsuri are said to reach back about 1,250 years, to the first year of the Jingo-keiun era, corresponding to 767, in the Nara period. In that year, when prayers for the dispelling of epidemics were offered at the provincial temples throughout the country by the imperial command of Empress Shotoku, the provincial governor of Owari is said to have also offered prayers at Owari Okunitama Shrine, the head shrine of the province, and this is held to be the beginning of the rite. The prayer to quell pestilence and to wish for the peace of the people has flowed consistently at the foundation of the festival.

Yet the form in which several thousand naked men jostle, as seen today, was shaped in a far later age. Because there were no prominent Setsubun observances in the vicinity, this rite took root as a festival that calls in spring to the Owari region, and the custom of making cold-weather pilgrimages while naked became joined to it. It is said that the festival took on its present form as a naked festival only at the end of the Edo period. One can discern here how an ancient rite of warding off misfortune and the folk custom of cold pilgrimage fused into a distinctive festival.

At the core of the festival lies an old practice called naoi-tori. In former times, a man was sought in the direction of the year's lucky quarter and seized to be made the naoi-nin, that is, the shin-otoko who bears all the calamity. The present form, in which the naked men jostle, is regarded as inheriting this naoi-tori, and in the act of people trying to shed their own misfortune by touching the shin-otoko, the ancient idea of purifying calamity by placing it upon a single person still lives on.

Such faith and observances have been handed down across the ages, and today the festival has become a major winter rite representative of Inazawa City. In recent years, changes in keeping with the times have also appeared, such as women being allowed to take part in some of the observances that were once for men alone. The weight of this festival lies in the way that a prayer originating in an ancient imperial command has continued unbroken for more than a thousand years, even as its form has changed.

Highlights

The Jostling of the Naked Men The greatest highlight of the festival is the jostling of the naked men on the thirteenth day of the first lunar month. Centered on men in their unlucky years of forty-two and twenty-five, several thousand gather from all over the Owari region wearing only white loincloths of bleached cloth and white tabi. Together with cries of wasshoi, a heat that blows away the cold bursts through Konomiya, and a press of humanity that hardly seems possible in midwinter fills the precincts. This overwhelming heat of the crowd is the very reason the festival is called one of the most extraordinary in the land.

The Rush toward the Shin-otoko The climax of the jostling is the appearance of the utterly naked shin-otoko. When the bucket brigade of the Koike Shomyoji district begins to throw water over the naked men, the shin-otoko, guarded by escorts, soon appears secretly among the crowd. People rush toward him to shed their misfortune by touching him, and a tremendous struggle ensues. The water thrown over them turns at once to steam from the heat of friction, and the shin-otoko, seizing the moment, makes his way toward the Naoiden hall. These roughly sixty minutes form the peak of this extraordinary festival.

The Offering of the Great Mirror Rice Cake On the day before the main festival, a gigantic great mirror rice cake of fifty straw bales, weighing about four tons, is offered from the districts near Owari. At a height of 2.35 meters and a diameter of 2.40 meters, it is the largest size that can pass through the tower gate and be offered in the main hall, and even a large crane is used to carry it in. It is said that what began in the early Meiji period at about five or six bales gradually grew larger as the honor of the offering districts was staked upon it, reaching its grand present form.

The Distribution of the Rice Cake The gigantic mirror rice cake is cut apart from eight in the morning on the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, after the main festival, and distributed to worshippers. There is a tradition that eating this rice cake brings freedom from illness, and many people vie to buy it. In contrast to the spirited jostling, this scene of sharing the rice cake in a wish for a year of health well expresses the simple prayer embedded in the festival.

The Yonaoi Shinji The yonaoi shinji, held before dawn on the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, is a solemn observance that shows the true meaning of the Naoi Shinji. An earthen rice cake into which sin and impurity have been pounded is made to be carried on the back of the shin-otoko, and he is driven away, chased with the ringing of the great bell and pelted with pebbles of peach and willow, so that calamity is driven outside the shrine. If the daytime jostling of the naked men is the heat of the light, this rite carried out in darkness is the hidden core of the festival, in which the original meaning of the festival as an exorcism is concentrated.

The Related Observances The festival is not completed in a single day but consists of a series of rites spanning the first lunar month, such as the standard-post-raising ceremony, the selection of the shin-otoko, and the pounding of the great mirror rice cake. It closes with the arrow-shooting rite, which brings the whole series of the Naoi Shinji to an end. By viewing the whole, including these preceding and following rites, one can see that the Hadaka Matsuri is not a one-off naked festival but a comprehensive rite carried out according to ancient forms.

Event Information and Access

Name Konomiya Hadaka Matsuri, with the formal name Naoi Shinji.

Location Inazawa City, Aichi Prefecture. The venue is Owari Okunitama Shrine, known as Konomiya, and the area of its precincts and approach.

Date The central Naoi Shinji, or Hadaka Matsuri, is held every year on the thirteenth day of the first lunar month, and the yonaoi shinji is held before dawn on the following fourteenth day. Because it is based on the lunar calendar, the date in the Western calendar varies from year to year and roughly falls in the period from winter to early spring. Related observances such as the standard-post-raising ceremony, the selection of the shin-otoko, and the pounding of the great mirror rice cake continue through the first lunar month. It is advisable to confirm the latest schedule and whether the event will be held with the official information of Owari Okunitama Shrine.

Cutting of the Rice Cake The great mirror rice cake is cut apart and distributed from eight in the morning on the fourteenth day of the first lunar month.

Access The nearest stations are Konomiya Station on the Meitetsu Nagoya Main Line and Inazawa Station on the JR Tokaido Main Line, and the precincts can be reached on foot. Because the day of the festival becomes extremely crowded, the use of public transportation and confirmation of the latest traffic information are recommended.

Around the Area

Inazawa City lies in the western part of Aichi Prefecture, on the Nobi Plain, and has long been a central place of Owari Province. Owari Okunitama Shrine is the head shrine of Owari Province, and the name Konomiya is said to derive from the fact that the provincial capital was once placed in this area. From the fact that the origin of the Hadaka Matsuri lies in prayers by the provincial governor of Owari, one can sense the history of this land as a key point of Owari's politics and faith. When visiting the festival, reflecting on this ancient historical background allows one to savor the meaning of the rite more deeply.

Inazawa City is also known as a major producer of garden trees and saplings, conveying to the present the agricultural culture of the rich plain. Behind the Hadaka Matsuri, rooted in prayers for the dispelling of epidemics and for abundance, lies the life of farming in this land. Although it is a festival visited in winter, the surrounding area has many places where one can encounter nature and horticultural culture throughout the seasons, offering the pleasure of visiting at different times of year.

Being close to the center of Nagoya and blessed with good transportation is another feature of Inazawa. By touring the shrines, temples, and historic sites scattered across the Owari region along with a visit to Konomiya, one can feel the depth of the faith and culture handed down in this area. Touring the surroundings with the Hadaka Matsuri at the center allows one to experience the history and character of Owari in a more vivid way.

Related Information

• Owari Okunitama Shrine (Konomiya) ... the head shrine of Owari Province that serves as the stage of the Konomiya Hadaka Matsuri, with Owari Okunitama no Okami as its deity.
• Naoi Shinji ... the formal name of the Konomiya Hadaka Matsuri, an ancient rite praying for the dispelling of epidemics and protection from misfortune.
• Shin-otoko (Naoi-nin) ... the central role who bears all calamity; the naked men seek to shed their misfortune by touching him.
• Great Mirror Rice Cake ... a gigantic rice cake of fifty straw bales weighing about four tons, cut and distributed after the festival, with a tradition of bringing freedom from illness.
• Yonaoi Shinji ... a rite held before dawn on the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, driving away the shin-otoko laden with sin and impurity, showing the true meaning of the Naoi Shinji.
• Naoi-tori ... an old practice of seizing a man in the lucky direction to make him the shin-otoko, said to be the origin of the present jostling of the naked men.

← Explore More Festivals