Regardless of its identify, these participating within the competition will not be bare

Inazawa, Japan:

Girls formally joined a so-called “bare competition” at a shrine in central Japan on Thursday for the primary time within the occasion’s 1,250-year historical past, donning purple robes and chanting excitedly as they bore a big bamboo trunk as an providing.

Seven teams of girls took half within the ritual which is alleged to drive away evil spirits and the place contributors pray for happiness. Regardless of its identify, these participating will not be bare.

Many ladies wore “Happi Coats” (robes that attain to the hips) and shorts which can be sometimes worn at Japanese festivals, though males simply wore loincloths much like these worn by sumo wrestlers.

“I heard that ladies may take part so I positively needed to participate to assist carry pleasure to this city and competition,” mentioned 59-year-old civil servant Emi Tachibana, one of many contributors.

Naruhito Tsunoda, a priest on the shrine, mentioned there had by no means been a ban on girls taking part, and a few had even made small choices as people earlier than. Nevertheless, when a girls’s group inquired final 12 months if they may be a part of, saying ‘sure’ was simple.

“I imagine a very powerful factor is for there to be a enjoyable competition for everybody. I believe God could be happiest about that too,” he mentioned.

The ladies didn’t be a part of the competition’s essential occasion the place a big group of males conflict collectively to drive away evil spirits. Tsunoda mentioned it will be tough to open up that a part of the competition to girls as a result of bodily facet.

Japan’s authorities final 12 months mentioned it will push to enhance girls’s participation in society after an annual report confirmed the nation was struggling to slender the gender hole.

The World Financial Discussion board report measuring gender parity ranked Japan one hundred and twenty fifth out of 146 nations in 2023, down from 116th in 2022.

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