Gojinkosai Festival

To quote the Yamaguchi-ken tourism website ;
"This gallant festival is held on a cold winter's day. Many naked men carry portable shrines and vigorously deliver them to the shrine."

Now...gallant...yes.....cold....yes (and wet when the heavens opened just as the main event was beginning!)....naked...no! Aside from that minor detail, it was truly a great festival! I had heard about it last year, and then when Christine mentioned she was gonna go on saturday, I decided to tagalong, and see all of the excitement and naked festival fun for myself. It was probably one of my favourite festivals I have been to...mainly due to the amazing atmosphere, and the energy and enthusiasm of everyone taking part. Sure, most of the participants had been drinking since noon, but hey no Japanese festival is complete without all-day drinking, and accompanying lets-talk-to-the-foreigners lariness. It was great! Here's a run-down of the afternoon and evening (in pictures and very little writing, because it's monday, and I can't be bothered to write much!)

The afternoon began with the groups of children, and then women carrying their shrines. Everyone was shouting, whistles were being blown, and the amosphere was electricAnd then the men started their parades. I took this photo, because I just loved the shoes that some of these guys were wearing. For people at home, check out the socks too! These are called 'tabi' and are traditional Japanese socks. They have the split for the big-toe, so that you can wear them with a flip-flop type shoe (called 'geta').After the gentle walking along with their portable shrines, the groups then have to run up the long flight of steps to Hofu Tenmangu shrineThen we also go and mingle around the shrine area. Everyone was so friendly, and lots of people stopped to chat to us! And yes, as you can see..we were given festival head attire to wear! Christine even had the flower symbol printed on her cheeks...(hope you finally managed to scrub it off love!)Look at the tasty treats you can buy at Japanese festivals!...takoyaki (fried octopus dumplings)...mmmmm mmmmm... Please, note this is heavy sarcasm...I'm not a big fan of the old takoyaki!...give me chicken on a stick any day!And look at the great stuff you can buy! Hands up who wants an anpanman mask! Me me me!Finally the main part of the festival! Running back down the steps with the 'really good' portable shrines (the fancy ones) Apparently this is the part when every year people fall down and break bones! Eek! This year, I only saw one person being stretchered away when it was over, but I'm sure there were more! The steps definitely weren't helped by the pelting rain at this point in the evening. It chucked it down (hence why my photos are a little blurry), and yet they carried on, topless and ready to carry another shrine! The great Japanese determination and resilience!