Horace Bristol: The New Moon, January 1, 1946

During the Saidai-ji Eyo Hadaka Matsuri [“Saidaiji Temple Naked Festival”] in Okayama, participants wear only a Japanese loincloth called a fundoshi as they compete to find one of two camphor-scented batons that have been thrown into the darkness. (The picture was taken using a flash.) Anyone who manages to get hold of one of them and put it into a wooden box full of rice is blessed with a year of happiness.