On
Sunday Aril 3rd 2016, the Festival of the Steel Phallus (Kanamara Matsuri) also
known as ‘The Penis Festival’ was celebrated in Kawasaki, Japan. Sunday’s
festival (see photos below) allowed revelers to celebrate all that is penis. On
the bright side, sale of penis merchandise at the festival went to a good
cause: raising awareness for HIV prevention.
Hundreds of locals have been
parading through the streets with three giant phalluses, some as big as a
full-grown man, in a tribute to the humble penis. The festival’s inspiration
reportedly goes way back. In the 17th century, a 1-meter “Steel Phallus” was
reportedly erected by a local blacksmith that honored Shinto deities of
fertility and childbirth. Prostitutes were believed to have prayed there for
protection from sexual diseases. Nowadays, “People come to pray for good
fortune and to ask the gods to protect them,” Hiroyuki Nakamura, a local priest
of the Kanayarma Shrine told AFP. “The festival is steeped in the past
but still has a valuable part to play in modern society.” According to Metro
UK, visitors on Sunday also sported giant penis purses and even “straddled a
giant wooden phallus.” Highlights from the Penis festival below:
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