Lucky Wood

Recently 9,000 men wearing only loin clothes crowded into the Saidaiji Temple in Okayama, Japan. The sacred festival is called the Eyou festival. Yes, you heard me right, the “ewww” festival. As part of the preparations, sacred wood is collected from around nearby temples by priests to make a few lucky talismans. I know this festival sounds odd, but keep in mind that right here in our own country, young men are often found in the middle of nowhere with a bit of sacred wood, but we just call those “keg parties.” In order to participate in the festival a man must insert a paper with his name, blood type and emergency contact number into a loincloth. By the way, that should be a good habit for anyone ever contemplating going on a Tindr date. Young men battle each other for a chance to hold some lucky wood thrown to them by priests.  Yes, I know that men in most countries do the exact opposite, and we call it dodge-balls. Apparently there is no stigma for participating in the festival, because afterwards they don't even make the priests involved move to another temple.