Antonio sent me a while ago these pics of a traditional festival that is celebrated every year in Saidaiji. In the festival men go out on the streets dressed in some sort of gigantic thong, with their butts hanging out and all. I don’t know why, but this festival somehow reminds me of the Festival of the Steel Phallus

The climax of the festival is at midnight, when the goal of all participants is to get sacred sticks that are thrown from a temple. To catch one of those sticks is a sign of good luck. In this video you can see the moment when everybody fights to catch one of those sacred sticks: