You would think that a manhood is a subject to be discussed discreetly? Well, if you happen to be in Japan during the first Sunday of April, then penis can be a topic of parades and public interest. An annual festival held in Kawasaki, Japan celebrates the male phallus. Known as Kanamara Matsuri in local language, the spring festival dedicated to penis and thus fertility is a more four decades long tradition practiced in the region. But this not-for-the-faint-hearted festival also has a noble cause behind it. It is aimed at raising awareness about safe sex and HIV.
So, every year in April, you would find locals parading the streets with giant phallic shaped mementos and other symbolic cut outs and memorabilia all resembling the schlongs. More than 50,000 people participate in the event and the money raised goes towards charities that work with patients suffering from HIV.
According to spiritual beliefs people attend the festival to seek blessings from God. In the olden times, however the festival had an important significance as sex workers in the region would worship the Gods to protect them from sexually transmitted diseases. The festival also has a legend according to which a demon who had long fangs planted itself in a woman’s vagina when faced with her rejection. The demon used to bite the woman’s husband’s penis bit by bit, angered with her response towards him. The woman on learning this found a solution and called for an iron penis to be made by the blacksmith to break the demon’s fangs.
Despite its long chain of history, according to locals the festival holds importance for them as they continue to believe that by invoking the Gods they will be blessed with easy childbirth and cordial relationships between the couples.
Image Credit: flickr.com
During the parade while one gets to see huge replicas of iron penises called mikoshi being carried from one place to the other, the young revelers like to participate in the festival by chewing on penis shaped candies, lollipops or anything in their imagination that can be seen as a replica of the male sex organ. Men and women participate with equal zeal and it seems the entire community is connected with the similar thought process of using the oldebn legend to find modern day answers for sexual causes such as safe-sex and protection against sexually borne diseases.
As bizarre as the tradition may be, the locals sure think that it effectively helps raise awareness in the society.
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