Penis Festivle

Penis Festivle
Index > Events > Kanamara Matsuri, Japan Penis Festival, 2021
Venue Kanayama Shrine 2 Chome-13-16 Daishi Ekimae Kawasaki , Kanagawa 210-0802 Japan + Google Map
Freelance writer, translator, web content developer, author of the novel Phnom Penh Express and Tommy, a short story. Loves trying out local brews, avoids noise. Chronically indecisive about where to lay down his hat. Shortlisted AITO Travel Writer of the Year 2018.
The Japan Penis Festival is arguably the country’s most amusing event when tens of thousands of revellers roam the streets of Kawasaki city in April to pay tribute to fertility in an age-old ritual, amidst thousands of phalluses of all sizes, shapes and colours.
Kanamara Matsuri means Festival of the Steel Phallus and is becoming more and more popular every year amongst Japanese and foreigners alike, to whom it is more commonly known as the Japan Penis Festival. The modern day purpose of the event is to raise awareness of sexually transmitted diseases and to promote safe sex, but its rituals and practices betray ties to Japan’s traditional religion of Shinto.
Central to the festival is a big mikoshi parade where human-sized phalluses are carried in divine palanquins ( mikoshis ) to the Kanayama temple. What makes this event so special, particularly in today’s divided world, is that it’s all inclusive and everyone participates in it, from families, toddlers and the elderly, to youth in traditional dress, foreign visitors and local Japanese drag queens.
The parade’s popular mikoshis include the Kanamara Fune and Big Kanamara both of which contain large, traditional phallus sculptures made respectively of steel and wood. The Elizabeth mikoshi , named after the local drag queen club, contains the largest phallus and, with its bold pink colour, is quite impossible to ignore.
Once a phallus is erected at the temple, people pray against sexually transmitted diseases, for help in conceiving a child, or for a satisfied partner. Expect young and old, men and women, licking candy penises, posing for pictures on large, wooden phalluses, learning the art of carving vegetables into penis shapes, dress like phalluses, and other penile fun – all in good faith and humour. For the over-zealous, there’s a traditional, low-alcohol sweet drink called amazake which, combined with eating a mandatory small dried fish, mimics the taste and texture of semen – according to those in the know.
The steel phallus reportedly originates from the Edo period (1603 – 1868) when, according to local legend, a demon became smitten with a lady but couldn’t bear watching her falling in love with anyone else. The logical thing for him to do then was to hide in the lady’s vagina and bite off any lover’s penis the moment it entered her. As this inconvenience kept on occurring with every new candidate she tried to sleep with, the lady had a steel penis made by a local smith on which the demon broke his teeth and then fled. All’s well that ends well.
Today, at the courtyard of the Kanayama temple, a holy, one-metre-tall steel phallus is displayed to honour fertility, childbearing and to ask for protection against STDs. Over time, prostitutes came to pray at the temple until it eventually became a tourist attraction in the seventies.
During the last decade the Japan Penis Festival has increased a lot in popularity and keeps on expanding. The profit of the phallus-shaped items for sale goes to research of HIV and other STDs. The festival’s paraphernalia are very popular, from plenty of candy and other food items to t-shirts and large carrots carved into phalluses that can be carried on the shoulder in a small mikoshi . If you want to get your hands on your own phallus souvenir then it’s best to go early as they are very popular and go quickly.
It takes place every year during the first Sunday of April, which falls on 3 April in 2022. This is also the period of the famous cherry blossom season Japan and a time of the year that marks many beginnings, from the new school year to starting another job and the financial year. Many festivals in Japan begin around this time.
Kawasaki is one of the cities forming the Greater Tokyo Area and is located about one hour south of central Tokyo. Most of the Japan Penis Festival events take place in and around the city’s Kanayama temple which is a five minutes walk from Kawasaki-Daishi Station. Alternatively, follow anyone who’s dressed like a phallus.
To find the best accommodation in Kawasaki and flights, please search via our comparison engine, which scans all the major booking sites to find you the best deals:
Visit the official Japan Tourism Website .
Cover image by Rαge – Wikimedia Commons. Article Updated 10 February 2022.
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Every spring, people gather for the traditional Japanese “Kanamara Festival” to celebrate one thing: the penis.
The Kanamara Festival is all about penises. (Yes, penises, genitals, no typos involved!) This traditional festival is held in the city of Kawasaki every spring, just outside of Tokyo, and the festivities are right out there in the open. The Kanamara Festival is quite literally the penis festival, as "mara" is one word for penis in Japanese, and together "kanamara" means "iron penis." All of this puts the popular festival right on the edge of taboo, so what does a penis festival look like in Japan?
On the first Sunday of April every year, thousands head to Kawasaki's Kanayama Shrine (金山神社), with travelers and locals alike joining together to create a lively crowd, waiting in anticipation of one of Japan's most unique yearly events. While the festival is traditional and involves plenty of local Shinto religious practices, it's not a solemn event! The cheerful festival atmosphere is punctuated with blushing cheeks and plenty of giggles, as the crowd revels in an event that is both serious and clearly a little ridiculous!
While Japan may have a reputation for creating some pretty wacky culture, the reality is that there is still a strong conservative voice in the country, and since the start, some have worried about the Penis Festival's rather risque celebrations. But the festival has been going on for more than 50 years now, and with decades of tradition now firmly established, it looks like the festivities will last into the future. In fact, the Kanamara Festival attracts more foreign visitors every year, solidifying the event's place as a permanent part of local culture.
Many participants festoon themselves with penis-shaped accoutrements, some of which have obviously been carefully prepared at home for this very purpose.
For some, the festival really brings out their creative side.
And for those who aren't interesting in preparing advance, there are plenty of penis-shaped treats to be found at the festival itself.
So, why a penis festival? Well, the Kanayama Shrine, where the festival is held every year, has a long history as a "penis-venerating shrine." Legend tells of a sharp-toothed demon who fell in love with a young woman, and so decided to hide inside her vagina and bite off the penis of any potential suitors (in fact, the demon apparently played this trick on two different young men on their wedding nights). Unsurprisingly upset about the situation, the young woman went to a blacksmith for help, and he forged her a penis made of iron. This broke the demon's sharp teeth, freeing the woman from her troubles, and the iron penis was subsequently enshrined at Kanayama Shrine. The Penis Festival we know today is held each year to celebrate and remember this unique Japanese legend!
This shrine carried the "little penis."
And finally, the true symbol of the festival, the "large penis." With its cute pink color and truly enormous scale, all eyes are on this penis shrine as it passes by.
Don't get flustered, there's plenty to do at the Penis Festival! Perhaps the most important activity is to watch the procession of three shrines carried through the crowd, each portable shrine containing its own penis: small, medium, and large. As the shrines are carried, participants shout "dekaimara, dekaimara," meaning, well... "huge penis, huge penis." Nothing if not accurate.

Visitors will also find plenty to entertain themselves among the many stalls and sellers that set up around the festival, mostly offering a variety of items made in the shape of a penis. Penis earrings? Plenty of options! Penis art? Lots of it! And penis candy? Who wouldn't want a penis lollipop! If the sweets aren't quite enough, though, you'll find less phallic (but more filling) street food stalls as well.
Leather penis earrings available in a variety of colors.
Some extremely suggestive chocolate-covered bananas, the perfect festival snack.
And anyone who really wants to bring home memories of the event can pick up merchandise like penis-print t-shirts and stickers.
With a nickname like "The Penis Festival," it's hard to know what to imagine at the Kanamara Festival, but a real-life trip to the event proves that it's a fun, light-hearted festival with participants of all kinds. Whether you like traditional Japanese legends with surprising storylines, or just want to participate in some ridiculous modern-day festivities, there's plenty to enjoy at this Kawasaki festival. Next time you're in the Tokyo area during the spring, especially for cherry blossom season , think about adding this unique event to your itinerary!

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#Kanto #Tokyo #Kanto #Kawasaki #Festival #Culture #Unique #Legend #matsuri #shrine #kanayama #shinto

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