🏮 Hadaka Doage Matsuri

裸胴上げまつり

Itoigawa, Niigata (Fujisaki Kannon Hall) · Every year on 17 January

125 days to go
Rooms around Itoigawa, Niigata fill up while the festival is on.

In the Nou area of Itoigawa, Niigata Prefecture, the Hadaka Dōage Matsuri is held every year on January 17 at Fujisaki Kannon-dō. A Little New Year event designated an intangible folk cultural property of Itoigawa, it is known as a strange festival in which naked young men toss people in their unlucky years into the air. The festival is said to date back to the Edo period and is held to pray for protection from misfortune and good health. The naked young men purify themselves and wear fundoshi loincloths, taking on the role of driving away the misfortune of worshippers. From around 7:30 p.m., the young men grab that year's unlucky-age people and, with the cry of "Sasshage," walk through the hall and throw them up toward the ceiling. Sometimes the force is so great that they break through the ceiling boards, and the hall is filled with heat and cheers.