Thousands of men scramble to grab sacred pieces of wood at Saidaiji Temple in Okayama on Sunday.
SANKEI

9,000 men scramble for sacred wood at temple

Monday 23rd February, 06:00 AM JST

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11 Comments

saitamakid at 08:24 AM JST - 23rd February

this is a cultural thing! i believe it's an annual tradition, having been practiced for a long time.
some14some at 08:37 AM JST - 23rd February

Calling men in 'fundoshi' near-naked? little uncivilized.
soldave at 08:54 AM JST - 23rd February

Strange to see Kyodo news really showing disrespect with the way they have reported this story.
Maria at 09:57 AM JST - 23rd February

Ohhh, I preferred the original headline - there' nothing wrong with a clever double-entendre on occasion!

I'm always amused at how some Japanese people are bemused by the massive foreign interest in such quirky festivals, like this one, and the numerous penis-er I mean fertility festivals. As though 9000 nekkid men, or a bunch of people carrying a huge erect wooden penis through the streets while kids suck on pink candy cocks, is just par for the course on a Sunday afternoon family outing!
Altria at 10:07 AM JST - 23rd February

It was chaos groping in the dark for a 20cm long piece of wood amongst 9000 sweaty half-naked men.

Several people were convinced I had the wood and wouldn't stop tugging and jostling.
Yelnats at 10:29 AM JST - 23rd February

Festivals are the best thing in this country.
oberst at 10:42 AM JST - 23rd February

just for the wood ?

Nahhhhhhhhhhhhhh, what a lame excuse to wear loincloth in public !!
Kanadjin at 11:09 AM JST - 23rd February

This headline is amazing! it'll be a hard one to beat :p
Sarge at 11:13 AM JST - 23rd February

"after undergoing a purification rite by pouring cold water over themselves"

Couldn't they have just thrown some salt over themselves?
cadmium at 11:37 AM JST - 23rd February

Usually it gets so jam packed in the temple that some people collapse and the police have to go in to remove them. Perhaps if they poured some massage oil on them instead of water things would be more interesting. I'm not sure how sanitary it all is with such close skin-skin contact, perhaps some diseases are exchanged on the night.