Sep 23 (Linfamy) - Utagaki 歌垣, a wholesome Japanese festival that’s not at all inappropriate.
Utagaki (歌垣), also known as kagai, were ancient Japanese harvest and planting festivals that combined religious rituals with social and sexual gatherings. Dating back as early as the Kofun period (250–538 AD), these events were held in sacred “border” places like shrines, mountaintops, riverbanks, and markets—locations believed to connect different worlds and attract spirits.
The festivals often began with feasts, drinking, and song or poetry battles, which determined romantic pairings. Words and names carried spiritual power: revealing one’s name was seen as consent to a relationship. Sexual activity was considered sacred, an offering to the gods meant to ensure fertility and good harvests. Group sex and partner-swapping sometimes occurred, though the rituals also served a practical role in matchmaking and marriage. Children conceived at these festivals were regarded as blessed by the gods.
Markets and sites like Mt. Tsukuba became famous gathering places, and even nobles participated. Despite Emperor Kanmu’s ban on night festivals in 798 due to “licentious acts,” the traditions continued in various forms, shifting over time from spiritual rites to more social matchmaking events. Some practices survived into the modern era—rituals with sexual elements were reported as late as the 1920s and even into the mid-20th century.
By today, most festivals retain only the song and dance elements, with the sexual aspects removed, but the legacy of utagaki reflects how intertwined fertility, community, and ritual once were in Japanese rural life.
Source: Linfamy
