Saidaiji Eyo Naked Festival

Okayama · Festival

Around ten thousand men in loincloths fight in the dark for two sacred sticks thrown from a temple window. After two participants died in 2026, the 2027 scramble has been cancelled.

Dates

20 February 2027

Provisional, not yet confirmed by the organizers

The scramble for the sacred sticks and the procession before it are cancelled for 2027. The temple says the festival itself will be held; this date follows the third Saturday rule and has not been announced, so check with the temple before planning a trip.

The third Saturday of February, with the sacred sticks thrown at 22:00.

Dates checked against the official site on October 29, 2026

Saidaiji Eyo has been held at Saidaiji Kannon-in in eastern Okayama for more than five hundred years and is a national Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property. At 22:00 the lights go out and a priest drops two sacred sticks, the shingi, from a window above the main hall into a crowd of around ten thousand men in loincloths. Whoever comes out holding one and gets it to the place set aside for it is the year's lucky man. It is a genuinely rough event. In February 2026 two of the men taking part died. On 20 October 2026 the organising association cancelled the 2027 scramble and the procession through the temple grounds that comes before it, saying it could not yet run the event safely. The temple says the festival itself will still be held in 2027. An outside panel is to recommend how it should be run from 2028, so anyone planning a trip for the scramble should wait for that.

Getting a good spot

In the years the scramble runs, the temple grounds are packed well before 22:00 and the drop has been streamed live online, which is the safer way to watch it.

Where it happens

Okayama A Shinkansen-connected city famous for the Momotaro legend, Korakuen Garden, and access to the art islands of the Set...

Access

Common questions

Is the Saidaiji Eyo naked festival happening in 2027?

Not in its usual form. The organisers cancelled the 2027 scramble for the sacred sticks, and the procession before it, after two men died during the 2026 festival. The temple says the festival itself will still be held.

When will the scramble return?

Not before 2028. An outside panel is drawing up recommendations on how the festival should be run from 2028, and the organisers will decide after that.