For 1,250 years, Japan’s ‘naked man’ festival barred women - until now - but they can’t go ‘Full Monty’

Worshippers wait for the priest to throw the sacred batons during the 2017 “naked man” festival at Saidaiji Temple in Okayama, western Japan. - AFP file

TOKYO: A shrine in Japan that hosts a “naked man” festival dating back around 1,250 years will, for the first time in its history, permit women to take part in its rituals this year.

However, women will still not be allowed to participate in the crescendo of the festival that it is most famous for – a rough-and-tumble scrum in which men wearing only loincloths attempt to touch a completely naked man designated as the shin-otoko, or “god man” in Japanese, to gain good fortune for the next year.