Jan 04 (soranews24.com) - With such a revered, sacred background, Ise Jingu is a popular destination during Japan’s most holy of holidays, the New Year period. And as people come to pray and worship here, the famous and well-preserved Okage Yokocho traditional shopping street that leads up to the shrine becomes filled with people, creating a bustling atmosphere.
The shrine’s presence in the background creates a sense of reverence in the air, which means crowds are usually sensible and subdued, and nothing like the party-going hordes seen at Shibuya Scramble Crossing. But this year, things took an unexpected turn, as one young man climbed up on top of a three-metre (9.8-foot) high stone lantern in the street, causing a scene that was captured on film and shared on social media.
After making it rain, throwing paper bills and then coins out to the crowd, the man then took his sweater off, threw it out to the crowd, and was joined by another man, who climbed up on the lantern. Then a third man climbed up partway and threw out coins to the crowd.
Emboldened by the cheers from the crowd, the man was later seen shirtless, unzipping his jeans and showing his underwear off to the world.
That’s when the police finally arrived, using loudspeakers to instruct the man to come down off the structure.
