Kanamara Matsuri

The Kanamara-Matsuri ( Japanese かなまら祭 , German: "Festival of the steel penis") is a Shinto festival ( matsuri ), which is celebrated in Japan every spring at the Kanayama Shrine in Kawasaki . The time of the main festival falls on the first Sunday in April.

Visitors to the Kanamara Festival.

Origins

The Kanayama Shrine in Kawasaki operates a fertility cult with the phallus as the main object of worship. This is said to have originated from a legend originally written in the Ainu language and later published as The Island of Women by Basil Hall Chamberlain . According to this, a demon in love once hid in the vagina of a young girl and, out of jealousy, bit the penises of two young bridegrooms of the girl with his sharp teeth on their wedding night. After that, the girl asked a blacksmith for help, who made her an iron phallus to break the demon's teeth. This led to this phallus having its own shrine.

Prostitutes went to Kanayama Shrine and prayed for protection from sexually transmitted diseases. The shrine was also intended to provide divine assistance for business activities and the well-being of one's own clan, as well as for easy birth, marriage and for harmonious coexistence in marriage.

The party

The Kanamara Matsuri was first held in 1969 . Today it is a tourist attraction and is also used as part of fundraising campaigns for AIDS research. At the festival, the main focus is on the representation of the phallus. This is not only presented as part of the parade on the Mikoshi , but can also be found in the form of sweets, carved pieces of vegetables, drawings and other decorations.