Kanamara matsuri

We went to a rather strange festival this last weekend, which I am posting for cultural value, of course... It is called Kanamara Matsuri, and it roughly translates to the "festival of the steel phallus," though some call it a fertility festival. The entire festival centers on a certain sensitive part of the male anatomy and priestesses and priests offer blessings to many, many effigies of this particular body part. Lest you think I'm kidding, there are articles explaining Kanamara Matsuri as a religious festival at a local shrine (actually called Kanamara "steel phallus" Shrine) in Kawasaki (about 20 minutes south of Tokyo) here, here, and here. At Kanamara shrine, there are actual permanent installations of phallic sculptures along with the well-attended annual festival. If this religious event offends your sensibilities, please read no further, as yes, there will be photos.

According to this site, which gives the most succinct explanation: "The legend goes that there was a demon living in the vaginas of the women in this area and a local metal-smith forged a steel phallus which broke the demons teeth and thus ridding the town of it forever. This legend was mostly wishful thinking on the part of the locals, many of whom had caught venereal diseases from the prostitutes that were common in this area in the Edo Period (1603-1867), during which this festival began. Even today Kawasaki is famous for its red-light district."

One word: ouch.

During a hanami in Ueno Park last week, we met some gaijin who were teaching English in Kawasaki and told us about Kanamara Matsuri. I was a bit incredulous, but did some research and found out that this was an actual festival that was occuring in a week. Kanamara Matsuri brought an eclectic group of people out to "worship" at the shrine: curious and clueless gaijin, drag queens and Harajuku goths, and just regular old Nihon-jin (Japanese) who were there for the party. Vendors sold plenty of phallic paraphenalia: lollipops, bananas, hot dogs, and assorted sculptures and souveniers. And of course, alcohol.



Here is one of the ceremony participants making an offering of laurel branches to the steel phallus. During this part of the ceremony, priestesses said prayers and made offerings to the phalluses, while obnoxious drunk Americans couldn't help but yell things like "Ohmigod, can you believe this is happening?? The sisters at Alpha Alpha Phi are never going to believe this!" I was annoyed at first, but was reminded that if they're going to serve alcohol to ignorant gaijin at 10 a.m. they have to expect, if not condone this sort of behavior.

After the short prayer service, the festivities began. There was a daikon radish carving contest, where the favorite body part was put into vegetable form and auctioned off to the highest bidder (I heard that the proceeds go to HIV/AIDS research, but since I saw no AIDS awareness groups at the festival, color me dubious).

A band played the same song over and over and there was a taiko performance as well.
























Just to prove that there was an eclectic crowd present at Kanamara Matsuri, here are some colorful folks that were in attendance, including a drag queen that took it upon herself to direct traffic during the procession of the phalluses, where effigies were carried through the streets of Kawasaki in celebration, I guess, of the vanquishing of that nasty demon.























But, proving that it wasn't just the crazies who were at the Sunday morning festival, here is a photo that shows you that Kanamara Matsuri was a family affair.

And let's not forget about the procession. Here are some photos of the parade.























Ah, Japan! Never ceases to amaze me!

We also saw a less exciting, but very pretty shrine in Kawasaki, but it had a really nice pagoda and a much, much tamer religious ceremony.