Yomiuri: Wakayama town to laugh in New Year
A Shinto festival that invites spectators to laugh in the New Year has attracted reservations from more than 20,000 happy visitors only a month after tours to the festival went on sale. The "laughter festival" is associated with Nyu Shrine in Hidakagawacho, a rural town in Wakayama Prefecture. Although the festival usually takes place on Oct. 10, after talking with the shrine, the town's tourist association decided to transform the one-day festival into a two-week romp from Jan. 7. The festival involves a man wearing a hood and hakama pants who has the kanji for "laugh" painted on his face in red paint. The man laughs and encourages the crowd, saying: "This world's easy, life's easy! Laugh! Laugh!"...more...
