Did You Know....

Did you know that in faraway japan, the first Sunday in April is reserved for the Japanese penis festival… ok ok. Maybe I exaggerated a little. It’s really called the “Japanese Fertility Festival"

The demon and a pink shrine!

This 300 some year old festival is filled with bizarre, phallic shaped everything. From sweets, to rice cakes, to hats and other souvenirs. The Festival is based on a story of a girl who was possessed by a demon or something of the sort and castrated “2” men on her wedding night. 2? You ask? Well that’s what the story says. Long story short they had to build a metal phallic shaped something to thrust all the way in there to kill the demon (Gosh! I can’t keep a straight face writing this). I do not know if the plan worked or if the girl was possessed at all in the first place, neither do I know why she had “2” men in her bed on her wedding night. Legend has it that a shrine was built to house her and save perverted men from taking a dive in her demon infested pool.

Another version of the story tells that the festival is centered around a penis venerating shrine where prostitutes from the days of yaw would go to pray for protection against STDs.

hats

The Festival starts off with a performance from a trainee geisha and then prayers are offered to the penis shaped shrines and later the shrines are carried across town amidst dancing and singing.

The festival attracts more than just those interested in fighting STDs; it also draws Japanese couples looking for good fertility luck, a large gay/lesbian crowd, lots of proud locals, and scores of interested foreigners who come to gawk at the gigantic phallus

Despite the earthquake a few months ago, the festival still took place, albeit a little low key. The spokesman for the festival said the turnout was great despite the situation and its glad to see that Japanese people can still smile.

In my opinion though, this is just one more oddity about the japs and their sexuality. Regardless visitors say the festival is fun and most of the proceeds now go to HIV research 

Who wants to come with me next year?