■Nathan Shiga: March 16
Japan is the land of eight million gods and goddesses thriving in nature and its people are accustomed to enshrine them in all possible occasions.
One of the traditional Shinto rituals is Hadaka Matsuri or Naked Festival at Owari Okunitama Shrine in Inazawa City, Aichi, in which menfolks join the festival naked. This year’s ritual on February 28 turned out the stage of an unfortunate male of 40 age 40 found out of breath (hypoxic encephalopathia), taken to the hospital and died of cardiopulmonary arrest on 15th this month.
The traditional ritual is unique in that the male participants will join naked in a rigorous race to touch the God’s Man to shake off bad omens. Some 8100 participated this year.
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