With an icy open-air bath in the middle of the Japanese city of Tokyo, dozens of people have asked the gods for health. Around forty men in loincloths and white headbands, and women in white robes, called out their prayers to the cold winter air at the capital’s Teppozu Inari Shinto Shrine, surrounded by modern high-rise buildings — while bravely standing in a tank filled with icy water, eh a spokeswoman for the shrine announced today.
Two blocks of ice weighing 135 kilograms were used to cool the water. A 49-year-old participant told Japanese agency Jiji Press: “I’ve participated 10 times so far and I’m in good health, so I hope to be in good health again this year.”
