The event, called "Hadaka Matsuri" in Japanese, is a wild and raucous festival held every year on the third Saturday of February at the Saidaiji Kannonin Temple, about a minute train ride from Okayama city. But the 10, or so male participants aren't as naked as the festival's name suggests. They sport a minimal amount of clothing; usually a Japanese loincloth called a "fundoshi" and a pair of white socks called "tabi. Related content 19 fabulous places to take a skinny dip "We hope they will be able to keep the tradition alive in the future," Mieko Itano, a spokeswoman from the Okayama tourism board, told CNN Travel. In the evening, the men spend an hour or two running around the temple grounds in preparation and purify themselves with freezing cold water, before cramming themselves into the main temple building.
It began with only one anchor, Victoria Sinclair, who worked for the program until The website was popularized entirely by word of mouth, [2] and quickly became a popular web destination. During the height of its popularity, the website was receiving over six million unique visitors per month. Beginning in June , two news segments could be viewed freely. However, this ended in December In it was broadcast in Australia on The Comedy Channel via cable and satellite television platforms Foxtel and Austar.