Warabi Naked Festival – Chiba

For hundreds of years now, in the little city of Yotsukaido (四街道市) in Chiba prefecture to the east of Tokyo, every year on February 25th the strongest men of the town has stripped to their loincloths and braved the icy waters of a rice paddy to bring the protection of the Gods to the newborns of the city. It was bitterly cold yesterday and before the ritual could start they had to break the ice with staffs and throw the thick sheets of broken ice up onto the banks of the rice paddy. One after the other the men would wade in with their assigned baby, taking a piece of dried grass and carefully putting a dot of mud from the rice field on the forehead or cheeks of the child. Some babies were screaming, some were sobbing and some seemed totally indifferent to what was going on, a couple of babies were even sleeping! It must have been amazingly cold, as the whole festival took more than a two hours to complete. Between rounds of babies the men would dash up onto the grounds of a nearby shrine to huddle next to a fire before braving the waters again. It took a lot of concentration to make it down into the icy muddy field, some men slipped spectacularly but the babies were always safe and sound! Meanwhile priests and parents would stand to the side enjoying the spectacle! The festival was concluded by a massive mud brawl, but I’ll post those pictures later. The festival is called Waradbi Hadaka Matsuri, or the Warabi Naked Festival (和良比裸祭り). Another name is the Doronko Matsuri (どろんこ祭り). Enjoy!