picture of the day

Cold run

4 Comments

Scantily clad men run down a street in near zero temperatures on Wednesday as onlookers throw water at them at the Mizukake Festival in Ichinoseki City, Iwate Prefecture. The race down the street is the main event at the festival which began over 350 years ago to pray for and raise awareness of fire safety, following a fire which destroyed more than half of Tokyo (then known as Edo) in 1657. The festival today continues the message of fire safety but people also pray for sound health, for recovery following the Great East Japan Earthquake, and so on.

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4 Comments
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There are a variety of mizukake events I guess. Ive seen one where men wearing straw costumes getting ice cold or hot water thrown at them. I would love to participate in one of these events.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I would definitely have something better to do than this - like rearranging my socks drawer.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

And because Japanese building standards haven't changed much since 1657, we often hear on the news about whole houses going up in flames and killing the sleeping inhabitants....in 2015.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

@ papigiulio

I agree it looks like alot of fun. The one thing I love in Japan is all the different types of Festivals. Getting dressed up in so many different clothes and costumes, would be heaps of fun.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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