Japan's 'Naked Men' Festival Succumbs to Aging of Population
Voice of America
Men cleanse their bodies in a river during the Sominsai Festival at Kokuseki-ji Temple in Oshu, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, Feb. 17, 2024. Men prepare to cleanse their bodies in a river during the Sominsai Festival at Kokuseki-ji Temple in Oshu, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, Feb. 17, 2024. Men cleanse their bodies in a river during the Sominsai Festival at Kokuseki-ji Temple in Oshu, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, Feb. 17, 2024. Men carry lanterns as they walk to a river to cleanse their bodies during the Sominsai Festival at Kokuseki-ji Temple in Oshu, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, Feb. 17, 2024. Men scramble for the "Somin-Bukuro" bag during Sominsai Festival at Kokuseki-ji Temple in Oshu, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, Feb. 17, 2024. Embers from a bonefire float in the air during the Sominsai Festival at Kokuseki-ji Temple in Oshu, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, Feb. 17, 2024.
Steam rose as hundreds of naked men tussled over a bag of wooden talismans, performing a dramatic end to a thousand-year-old ritual in Japan that took place for the last time.
FILE - In this Nov. 9, 2015, photo, Myanmar's pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, right, delivers a speech as close ally Tin Oo waves in Yangon, Myanmar. Tin Oo died June 1, 2024, at the age of 97. FILE - Tin Oo, co-founder of the National League for Democracy party, points out other party members at a ceremony to mark the 25th anniversary of the founding of the NLD, in Yangon, Myanmar, on Sept. 27, 2013.
Polling officials check and seal an electronic voting machine before they allow voters to cast their votes at a polling station during the last round of a six-week-long national election near Dharamshala, India, June 1, 2024. Nuns of the Missionaries of Charity, the order founded by Mother Teresa, stand in queue to cast their votes during the last round of a six-week-long national election, in Kolkata, India, June 1, 2024.
A North Korean military guard post, top, and South Korean post, bottom, are seen from Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, May 31, 2024. A TV screen shows a report of North Korea's multiple rocket launchers during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, May 31, 2024.