When the clock struck midnight on the morning of February 18, 9,000 loinclothed men screaming the collective "yahoo" word "washoi" at the top of their voices threw themselves into a desperate struggle to grab and hold on to one of the two large or even any of the lesser "good-luck" sticks blessed by the gods. The 2007 Saidaiji "Hadaka Matsuri," meaning "Naked Festival," had reached its climax.

A few of the combatants ended that night in western Japan's Okayama Prefecture counting their good fortune and clutching a sacred talisman. Most left with no more than a few minor scrapes and a story to last a lifetime. One unfortunate, crushed to death in the melee, didn't leave under his own steam at all.

That fatality notwithstanding, popular support for the Hadaka Matsuri among both participants and organizers is as enthusiastic as ever, with all sides agreed that this is an important cultural event that must endure despite its inherent dangers. Moreover, it remains a vital, money-earning tourist attraction for a small town, a unique experience for foreign participants and a continuing legacy handed down from the locals' ancestors.