Many festivals and folk rituals, which remain vital cultural treasures and community cornerstone throughout Japan, have begun embracing greater inclusivity by involving women in events previously exclusive to men.

Some festival organizers view this as a way to preserve traditions threatened by population decline and pandemic hardships. Others are motivated by a desire for gender equality.

Still other reforms have come in response to the work of activists and women’s groups across Japan.

PANDEMIC SHAKES THINGS UP

In Hadaka Matsuri, the so-called “naked festival,” one man, designated the “shin otoko” (divine man), is believed to take misfortune away from anyone who touches him.

Every February, the shin otoko is swarmed by men in loincloths who reach out to touch him during the festival at Owari Okunitamajinja shrine in Inazawa, Aichi Prefecture.

This year, women participated for the first time in the event’s 1,250-year history.

“When I watched my father in the festival, I remember thinking I could have participated if I had been a man,” said Ayaka Suzuki, 36, vice chair of a women’s group that took part in the event. “My dream has finally come true after all these years.”

Priest Mitsugu Katayama, 60, said that although “female participants are not supposed to join the swarm,” women participated in the bamboo dedication rite to drive away evil spirits beforehand.

While this festival never had a rule expressly barring women from taking part, the custom of participating while mostly nude had effectively prevented women from joining.

However, a turning point came during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The chase of the shin otoko by nearly naked men was suspended starting in 2020 to prevent crowding.

Instead, the bamboo dedication service was carried out by a limited number of fully clad participants in 2021 and 2022. Seeing this, women asked to take part in that section of the festival.

Local women’s groups offered to play a role and were accepted into the latest festival on Feb. 22.

Saying “yes” was easy, explained Naruhito Tsunoda, a priest at the shrine.

“I believe the most important thing is for there to be a fun festival for everyone. I think God would be happiest about that, too,” he said.

DIRE SHORTAGE OF SUCCESSORS

Some ancient festivals are embracing more inclusive practices due to a lack of young men to carry on the traditions.

For example, traditionally the 900-year-old Ohae Kagura dance was  performed only by men as part of a ritual of Ohaejinja shrine in Saito, Miyazaki Prefecture.

For generations the dances had been passed down from father to son within specific families selected by the shrine.

But now, women have a chance to perform this ancient art form as well.

The change came around 10 years ago when the number of tradition-carrying families dropped from 25 to seven or eight.

A decision was made to end the hereditary system and entrust the knowledge of the ancient dances to the broader community.

“We changed our course as a community to preserve our culture,” recalled Sadao Nakatake, 86, chief priest of Ohaejinja.

Now four of the current 22 dancers are women.

GENDER EQUALITY MOVEMENT

There have also been cases of female activists squarely combating festival organizers’ attempts to exclude women.

In 1999, women began holding lantern-lit float parades in the same style as Kita-Kyushu’s Tobata Gion Oyamagasa summer festival, a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.

When the plan for the women’s event was first suggested, the notion was laughed off. One opponent described the idea of women carrying floats as “absurd.”

Still, the activists persisted. Six months later they had succeeded in convincing critics to allow a women’s float parade--with some restrictions.

They were prohibited from using specific words, including “float” and “woman,” on the designs of their “happi” coats and lanterns along with other strict requirements.

Despite those hurdles, when the women asked students at a local technical high school to create the float, the students jumped at the chance.

After that, the number of female participants increased each year.

In the 2013 parade, on the 50th anniversary of the founding of Kita-Kyushu city, the women’s float made it up a steep slope that is considered difficult even for a male-operated float to conquer. At the sight of this, male spectators erupted in applause.

However, the female float exhibition was discontinued in 2018 due to a lack of successors.

“I am envious of the recent trend of women being actively involved in festivals,” said Reiko Naki, 77, who proposed the women’s float parade. “I believe the movement will spread further.”

GLASS WALLS

Despite progress being made, invisible barriers remain around many traditional events.

In Kyoto’s famed Gion Festival, for example, men play the central role of moving the towering floats down the streets.

Women are allowed to perform music at the festival if they wear the same garments as the men.

However, float operators are required to report women’s involvement in advance.

This notification system was instituted by the float operator association of the Gion Festival in 2001. Before that, multiple floats had included female musicians, but now, only one of the 14 floats with musicians allows women to participate.

“The notification system has made the decisions of the association and respective float operators publicly visible,” said Toru Yagi, a professor of folklore at Bukkyo University.

“This may be making hurdles (for women) higher,” he pointed out.

According to records, the Gion Festival dates to the Heian Period (794-1185), and included female dancers on floats up until the first half of the Muromachi Period (1336-1573).

Mikiyo Matsushima, chair of a women’s float performer group called “Sayanekai,” said she will continue to advocate for change and hopes to participate in the Gion float parade in the future.

“The gender gap between women and men is shrinking in line with the times,” she said.

DIVIDED OPINIONS

Other barriers are less invisible, as some festival organizers remain staunchly opposed to lifting bans on women’s participation.

Women are still barred from the main part of Otsu Festival in Otsu and can only ride floats on a designated day.

“The tradition of the festival has been preserved by men,” said a 70-year-old man who is a senior official of a local neighborhood association. “There is no room for discussion.”

However, another male executive, 40, showed a more positive attitude toward inclusion.

“Tradition and evolution are two sides of the same coin,” noted the man. “The current style of the festival can’t continue for the next 100 years. I expect that things will change over time.”

DISCUSS THOROUGHLY, THINK FLEXIBLY

As debates take place across Japan about allowing women to participate in festivals, many have pointed out that a dwindling population and the strain of the pandemic have threatened the very survival of many folk rituals. 

Finding ways to become more inclusive may be necessary to keep these cultural treasures alive for future generations.

In 2019, citizens group Matsurism conducted an online survey of 1,000 individuals who had participated in regional festivals.

The group found that 38 percent of respondents had trouble “securing staff members or other personnel,” and 28 percent cited the “advancing age and physical frailty of core members” as a challenge.

Masataka Suzuki, a professor emeritus of cultural anthropology at Keio University and author of “Nyonin Kinsei no Jinruigaku” (An anthropological study on the exclusion of women), explained how severe the impact of the declining birthrate and graying of society is.

“Organizers nationwide are struggling to find successors,” said Suzuki. “Many festivals are on the verge of dying out.”

Suzuki called for thoughtful dialogue and compromise among the keepers of these traditional events.

“Traditions are not immutable and can be maintained while making small changes,” he said.

“Choose which traditions to carry forward and which to let go of by holding thorough discussions until an agreement is reached. Take the opinions of those handing down the traditions into account.”

Shunsuke Takeda, a regional sociology professor at Hosei University and an expert on local festivals, agreed.

“Each community should pursue its own satisfying compromises without rushing things,” he said.

According to Takeda, since many festivals were canceled during the pandemic, organizers across Japan are now grappling with the challenges of resuming and conserving their festivals.

“It’s only natural that women’s participation is being considered in a growing number of religious events,” said Takeda.

He continued, “However, changing long-standing customs suddenly is difficult. A possible option is for organizers to take small steps, like treating ‘this year’s festival as special,’ so that women and other individuals who have been traditionally excluded from these opportunities could participate.”

(This article was written by Takashi Tomioka, Yukiko Kitamura, Hirokazu Suzuki, Yusuke Nagano and Takako Fuchizawa.)