40. The Steel Phallus and Fertility Festival
Warning: The pictures for these festivals are too inappropriate for children, so I will not post any photos.
The Shinto Kanamara Matsuri (かなまら祭り, "Festival of the Steel Phallus") is held each spring at the Kanayama Shrine (金山神社 Kanayama-jinja) in Kawasaki, Japan. The exact dates may vary since the main festivities fall on the first Sunday in April. As the name of the festival suggests they are giving thanks and celebrating the penis. The penis, as the central theme of the event, is reflected in illustrations, candy, carved vegetables, decorations, and a mikoshi parade. The Kanamara Matsuri is centered on a local penis-venerating shrine once popular among prostitutes who wished to pray for protection from sexually transmitted diseases. It is said that if you pray there you are given business prosperity and clan prosperity; and given easy delivery at childbirth, marriage, and married-couple harmony.
There is a legend of a sharp-toothed demon (vagina dentata) that hid inside the vagina of a young woman and castrated two young men on their wedding nights. As a result, the young woman sought help from a blacksmith, who fashioned an iron phallus to break the demon's teeth, which led to the enshrinement of the item. From this legend there has been a few movie created like "Teeth" released in 2007 by Mitchell Lichtenstein.
Today, the festival has become something of a tourist attraction and is used to raise money for HIV research.
The Hōnen Matsuri (豊年祭, "Harvest Festival") is a fertility festival celebrated every year on March 15 in Japan. Hōnen means prosperous year in Japanese, implying a rich harvest, while a matsuri is a festival. The Hōnen festival and ceremony celebrate the blessings of a bountiful harvest and all manner of prosperity and fertility.
The best known of these festivals takes place in the town of Komaki, just north of Nagoya City. The festival's main features are Shinto priests playing musical instruments, a parade of ceremonially garbed participants, all-you-can-drink sake, and a 280 kg (620 pound), 2.5 meter (96 inch)-long wooden phallus.
This festival is to celebrate the good harvest and any form of fertility.
-The more you know~
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