there was a report on German TV about Hadaka Masuri in Okayama, Japan.

A religious ceremony.

Thousands of (nearly) naked men stand in a temple and try to catch one of two wooden sticks. Those two who catch the sticks and manage to bring them out of the temple have luck for one year.

Every year there are broken bones and sometimes more.

Very Japanese!
Very strange for Europeans and christians.

But it looked like the men who took part had a lot of fun!

One of the Japanese participants said: "It's nearly 0°C, I'm nearly naked and some people spray me with cold water (which also belongs to this ceremony). I am Japanese, but I dont exactly know why I'm doing this."

CU
Andreas

Hello Andreas.
A festival in which the participants go naked in Japan was introduced in Germany.
The festival in introduced Okayama Prefecture is one 3 big unique-festival of Japan.
This festival is the festival which is done from the about 500 year old days.
The Japanese don't have religiosity as the foreign one.
The Japanese go to up at the shrine to the new year, in the Christmas, it celebrates Christ's birthday, and when someone passes away, it goes to the temple and pray to the Buddhist image for it.
When the place to have been necessary so attends from the foreign one, it may be possible to be strangely seen.
Then, it is again.
Masayuki