Kanamara Matsuri
Coordinates: 35°32′04.35″N 139°43′28.67″E / 35.5345417°N 139.7246306°E
Kanamara Matsuri | |
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A crowd gathers at Kanamara Matsuri festival. | |
Observed by | Kanayama shrine, Kawasaki, Japan |
Type | Religious |
Date | First Sunday in April |
2015 date | April 5 |
2016 date | April 3 |
2017 date | April 2 |
2018 date | April 1 |
Frequency | annual |
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 vary: the main festivities fall on the first Sunday in April. The phallus, as the central theme of the event, is reflected in illustrations, candy, carved vegetables, decorations, and a mikoshi parade.[1][2][3][4][5]
The Kanamara Matsuri is centered on a local penis-venerating shrine. The legend being that a jealous sharp-toothed demon hid inside the vagina of a young woman the demon fell in love with and bit off penises of two young men on their wedding nights.[6] After that the 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.[7] This legend in Ainu language was published as "The Island of Women" by Basil Hall Chamberlain[8]
The Kanayama Shrine was popular among prostitutes who wished to pray for protection from sexually transmitted infections.[9]
It is also said the shrine offers divine protections for business prosperity, and for the clan's prosperity; and for easy delivery, marriage, and married-couple harmony.
The festival started in 1969.[10] Today, the festival has become something of a tourist attraction and is used to raise money for HIV research.[11]
Gallery
See also
- Vagina dentata
- Hōnen Matsuri (Harvest Festival), whose main features include a 2.5 meter-long wooden phallus
- Phallic processions
- Tyrnavos, a city in Greece that holds an annual Phallus festival
- Ōkunitama Shrine (friendship shrine)
References
- ↑ "Dammit, we missed The Festival of the Steel Phallus in Japan this weekend - Cosmopolitan". cosmopolitan.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-04-11.
- ↑ Dominique Mosbergen. "Japan's Annual Penis Festival Is As Phallic As You'd Expect (PHOTOS)". huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2014-04-11.
- ↑ Times LIVE. "Japanese festival celebrates the penis - Times LIVE". timeslive.co.za. Retrieved 2014-04-11.
- ↑ "The World Today Archive - Japan's Festival of the Steel Phallus". abc.net.au. 2001-04-02. Retrieved 2014-04-11.
- ↑ "BBC - Travel - Slideshow - Ten events not to miss in April". web.archive.org. Retrieved 2014-04-11.
- ↑ "Kanamara Matsuri 2014: What You Should Know About Japan's Penis Festival (NSFW PHOTOS)". huffingtonpost.ca. Retrieved 2014-04-11.
- ↑ "Metropolis - Japan Travel: Kawasaki - Heads up". web.archive.org. Retrieved 2014-04-11.
- ↑ Chamberlain, B. H. "The Island of Women" Aino Folk-Tales, 1888. pp. vii, 37.
- ↑ "Kanamara Matsuri: When Does Japan's Penis Festival Start? (NSFW PHOTOS)". huffingtonpost.ca. Retrieved 2014-04-11.
- ↑ 世界も驚くニッポン旅行100: テーマでめぐる!47都道府県ローカル旅 PHP研究所, Jul 4, 2013
- ↑ "Kanamara-Matsuri | World's weirdest festivals". Herald Sun.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kanamara Festival. |
- A day at the Kanamara Matsuri in Yamasaki
- The shrine's festival webpage (Japanese)
- A report of the event (illustrated)
- Another report (unillustrated)
- A picture of the object of veneration
- Kanamara Matsuri Video
- Explanation of the history of the festival with a detailed schedule of the festivities.
- Photo-Chronicle Kanamara Matsuri (Festival of Fertility) of Polizon.