Japan naked festival: Women join Hadaka Matsuri for first time - BBC News

Women take part despite some in the community suggesting it should remain a men-only event.

14 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, ReutersImage caption, Women joined the festival for the first time in its 1,250 year historyBy Shaimaa KhalilTokyo correspondentThe sea of chanting, nearly-naked men tussle, push and shove towards the shrine. "Washoi! Washoi!" they yell - let's go, let's go.

It is scene that has barely changed in the 1,250 years the Hadaka Matsuri, or the Naked Festival, has been taking place at the Konomiya Shrine, in central Japan.

But this year there is a change - a big one.

Away from the men's huddle, a group are about to become the first women to ever take part.

The women gathered here know they are making history. Finding room in traditionally male-dominated spaces is difficult anywhere, but in Japan - which last year ranked 125 out of 146 on the World Economic Forum's gender gap index - it is particularly hard.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-68378651

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