Bare cheek as Japanese men strip off for naked festival

Revellers have been crushed to death in the past in a melee that makes Tokyo's infamous rush-hour trains look like a walk in the park.

Update: 2017-02-20 08:33 GMT

With only a skimpy loincloth to protect their modesty, thousands of men brave freezing temperatures to fight for lucky charms thrown by a priest at Japan's annual Naked Man Festival.

But revellers have been crushed to death in the past in a melee that makes Tokyo's infamous rush-hour trains look like a walk in the park.

As holy water was splashed from above, camera flashes illuminated the sea of bodies like disco lights at a rave -- before all hell broke loose.

Most who took on the 'Hadaka Matsuri,' or Naked Festival, suffered no more than a few bumps and bruises after scrapping over a pair of wooden sticks, measuring 4cm (one and a half inches) in diameter and 20cm (eight inches) in length, believed to bring good fortune to whoever catches them.

Around 10,000 hardy souls celebrating the religious festival stepped under ice-cold fountains to purify their bodies before risking life and limb in a mysterious ceremony dating back some 500 years.

A writhing mass of sweaty worshippers wrestled for elbow-room inside Saidaiji Temple in Okayama, western Japan, late on Saturday night in the hope of catching the sacred batons.

Revellers have been crushed to death in the past in a melee that makes Tokyo's infamous rush-hour trains look like a walk in the park.

Bare cheek as Japanese men strip off for naked festival

Revellers have been crushed to death in the past in a melee that makes Tokyo's infamous rush-hour trains look like a walk in the park.

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