Why can't we have good times like this in the U.S.

[packman]

https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/SBGrXOqBRL66YD5CDL_GXA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9MTAyNDtoPTY4MjtpbD1wbGFuZQ--/


"Around 10,000 hardy souls formed a writhing mass of sweaty worshippers inside Saidaiji Temple in Okayama, western Japan for the Naked Man Festival"

Apparently, in the cold of winter, men - and only men (says a lot for the gender) strip down to loincloths, douse themselves in freezing water, jam into a temple where priest throw Holy sticks into the crowd where :



"In a scene reminiscent of Dante's "Inferno", steam rises as thousands of groaning men, faces contorted with pain, thrust their arms upwards from the suffocating pit below, as if begging for forgiveness -- or if not a pair of trousers and a shirt to keep warm.

Those who snaffle one of the holy talismans tossed from above have to fight tooth and nail to keep hold of it as they come under attack by rivals desperate for the juju it bestows.

Fuelled by beer and sake, many festival-goers came to blows."


Note: I spotted a few Western faces in the crowd - like "Where's Waldo"



https://www.yahoo.com/news/bare-cheek-japan-men-strip-off-naked-festival-050829784.html

[Shrike47]

1. Come to blows? How can they move at all?

[Orsino]

2. All it would take would be one open-carry asshole...

...getting poked by the barrel of another's gun, and there would be a homophobic bloodbath. We'd have another Bowling Green on our hands.

Count your blessings.