Men parade to the rhythm of taiko drums, sporting daikon on their waist

Every year on January 3, the Tenteko Festival is held to pray for a rich harvest at Niike Hachimansha Shrine. Six men dressed head to foot in red, selected as they are currently in an unlucky year of their lives by Japanese superstition, parade toward the shrine with three of them sporting the "symbol" of all men made of daikon in what is termed one of the world's strangest festivals. The men sway their hips to the rhythmical beat of taiko drums, described by the Japanese onomatopoeia "Tenteko, tenteko"—hence the festival's name.
Once the procession makes it within the shrine premises, the unlucky men vigorously stir up straw ash with bamboo brooms. Why? Because those who get covered in the ash are said to be protected from evil, making this a messy yet memorable festival to witness!