There are some festivals around the world that may sound insane and surprising to you, even sometimes crazy. What you don’t know might make or break you, it depends on you.
Fret no more! Awesome Japan celebrates the annual Akutai Matsuri on Mt. Atago’s peak in Ibaraki. Also known as “The Cursing Festival”, it’s celebrated during the third Sunday of December, where anyone is free to curse people in any language. We’re pretty sure anyone who’d like to release their anger would find this festival interesting.
Most of these factory workers were women who wanted a break from the hellish task of making Kimonos by hand; hence, the cursing.
Since the festival is held at the top of Mt. Atago, the celebration includes the thirteen long-nosed, red-faced goblins (tengu), said to have lived in the mountain thousands of years ago.
Hundreds of people participate in the festival where they walk behind thirteen tengus while hurling epithets at them as they make their way towards the Atago Shrine.
Although the festival has attracted foreign visitors, the level of cursing at this festival is pretty tempered. During the 40-minute hike to Atago Shrine, the tengus stop by eighteen smaller shrines to present their offerings while the crowd vehemently curse, swear, and drop expletives as they attempt to take the offerings.
The journey can be pretty exhausting since you’ll have to travel on foot all the way to the shrine. If you’re planning to take traversing to a whole new level, you can start all the way from Iwama Station, on foot.
