The

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...

is an annual

Japanese festival Japanese festivals are traditional festive occasions often celebrated with dance and music in Japan. Many festivals have their roots in traditional Chinese festivals, but have undergone extensive changes over time to have little resemblance to ...

held each spring at the in Kawasaki,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The exact dates vary: the main festivities fall on the first Sunday in April. The

phallus A phallus is a penis (especially when erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history a figure with an erect penis is described as ithyphallic. Any object that symbolically—or, more precisel ...

, as the central theme of the event, is reflected in illustrations, candy, carved vegetables, decorations, and a ''

mikoshi A is a sacred religious palanquin (also translated as portable Shinto shrine). Shinto followers believe that it serves as the vehicle to transport a deity in Japan while moving between main shrine and temporary shrine during a festival or when ...

'' parade. The shrine is part of the Wakamiya Hachimangu Shrine and located near

Kawasaki-Daishi Station is a passenger railway station located in Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Keikyū. Lines Kawasaki-Daishi Station is served by the Keikyū Daishi Line and is located from the termin ...

. The Kanamara Matsuri is centered on the Kanayama Shrine where the god Kanayama-hiko and the goddess Kanayama-hime are venerated. They are both gods of blacksmithing, metalsmithing, and metal works, and are also prayed to for easy childbirth, marital harmony, and protection from

sexually transmitted infections Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), also referred to as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and the older term venereal diseases, are infections that are spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex, and oral se ...

. The festival started in 1969.世界も驚くニッポン旅行100: テーマでめぐる!47都道府県ローカル旅
PHP研究所, Jul 4, 2013 Today, it has become something of a tourist attraction and is used to raise money for HIV research.

Mikoshi

At the Kanamara Festival, three portable shrines, "Kankiiamara Mikoshi," "Kanayama Boat Mikoshi," and "Elizabeth Mikoshi," are patrolled. ; Kanamara Mikoshi : A portable shrine with a square base and a roof. A wooden phallus is housed inside. The oldest of the three portable shrines. ; Kanamara Boat Mikoshi : A portable shrine with a boat-shaped base and a roof. Inside, a glowing black iron phallus is housed upwards. It was donated by

Hitachi Zosen is a major Japanese industrial and engineering corporation. It produces waste treatment plants, industrial plants, precision machinery, industrial machinery, steel mill process equipment, steel structures, construction machinery, tunnel boring ma ...

. ; Elizabeth Mikoshi : A portable shrine with a huge pink dildo on the base. There is no roof. This portable shrine was donated by the

crossdressing Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes usually worn by a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and self-express oneself. Cross-dressing has play ...

club (女装クラブ) "Elizabeth Kaikan" in Asakusabashi. The other two portable shrines are mainly carried by local parishioners, while the bearers are mainly women dressed as Elizabeth Hall, and they are patrolling with a unique shout of "Kanamara!" In 2016 this shrine switched to being displayed on a wheeled trolley. In 2017, the cruising on the road was revived, but it was a one-way trip to Daishi Park, and after being covered with a white cloth in the park, it was pushed back to the shrine.

Gallery

File:Kanayama-shrine.jpg, Kanayama Shrine File:Kanamara-mikoshi2.jpg, Kanamara mikoshi File:Peniscandy.jpg, Penis (and vulva) candy

References

External links

A day at the Kanamara Matsuri in Yamasaki
(Japanese)
Kanamara Matsuri Video
Religious festivals in Japan Shinto festivals Penis Sex festivals Festivals in Kanagawa Prefecture Holidays and observances by scheduling (nth weekday of the month) April observances Festivals established in 1969 Spring (season) events in Japan Sexuality in Shinto {{Shinto-stub

Mikoshi

Gallery

See also

References

External links