Shitennoji Temple Doya-Doya festival

The Shusho-e is an age-old New Year’s prayer ritual for national peace and abundant harvests. The event occurs each year on New Year’s Day over at Shitennoji Temple, the head temple of the Washu sect founded by Prince Shotoku. The event culminates on January 14th with the distinctive “Doya-Doya,” famously known as Osaka’s only naked festival.

After the Shusho-e concluding ritual inside the temple hall, men wearing red and white loincloths and headbands gather in the temple grounds to fiercely compete for protective amulets blessed during the prayers. This unique festival dates back over 300 years to the Edo period and is often cited as one of Japan's three most eccentric festivals. Originally, local farmers divided into east and west groups to participate, but today the tradition continues with local high school students fulfilling this role.
The origin of the festival’s name, "Doya-Doya”, has various explanations. Some say it derives from participants shouting "Doya, Doya” ("How about it? How about it?") to ask the gods whether the year will bring a good harvest, while some hold that it comes from the energetic stampede of participants rushing into the temple grounds.

With the morning of January 14th, the same day as Doya-Doya, Shitennoji is also slated for Tondo-yaki, a ceremonial bonfire where visitors bring their New Year decorations, sacred ropes (shimenawa), and old protective charms and talismans to be ritually burned.