Golden Week was last week. You may have heard of it, you may have not. Golden Week takes place in Japan at the very end of April and lasts through the first week of May. People take vacations, travel the country or abroad, and generally have a great time regardless of the ensuing crowds. But [...]
Just about every Japanese festival involves genitalia or nudity. Well, actually that’s not true, although it certainly is true that these sorts of festivals seem to be the most well-known outside of Japan. Photo by ash-man It’s only natural that these festivals are as popular as they are: there’s the shock value, of course, along [...]
Festivals, or matsuri are an integral part of Japanese culture. Even matsuri can seem a bit old-fashioned and sometimes religious for ultra-modern, secular Japan, these festivals are a staple of Japanese society that most people take part in. Though there are a few festivals that are celebrated across Japan, there are a few that are [...]
Does riding down a hill on top of a giant log at high speeds sound a little bit dangerous to you? Good. Then you’ll probably want to be in the audience if you ever make it to the Onbashira-sai festival, held every six years in the Lake Suwa area of Nagano, Japan. The last one [...]
Japan is known to for their bizarre and over-the-top festivals. A few that come to mind are the 裸祭り (はだかまつり, Naked Festival), the かなまら祭り (かなまらまつり, Penis Festival), and the 御柱 (おんばしら, festival with the extreme log riding). Not all of their festivals are conceptually odd. It may surprise some of you that not all Japanese activities are [...]
My Japan-related YouTube buddy Gimmeabreakman posted this video up about a week ago – it does an amazing job summing up naked men, festivals, and Japan, all in one (very nice HD) video, which you can view above.
