Kanamara “Penis” Festival 2018

Yes, you read the title right. The Kanamara Festival (the Penis Festival) at Kanayama Shrine in Kawasaki features phallic images in everything from the decorations to snacks. There is also a mikoshi (portable shrine) parade of numerous giant phalli. Men in drag carry the pink ‘Elizabeth Mikoshi’, donated by a drag queen club called Elizabeth. Profits raised from the event go to HIV research.

Here’s some backstory. Kanayama Shrine was popular with sex workers from the local tea houses who prayed for protection from sexually transmitted diseases. Two gods of mining and blacksmiths, Kanayamahiko and Kanayamahime, are enshrined in it, which might sound totally unrelated to phalli. But Japanese legend says that they healed the Shinto goddess Izanami after she gave birth to a fire god. People prayed to them regarding STDs, childbirth, etc. because of this myth. Another story tells of a demon fell in love with a woman and hid inside her vagina, biting off her newlywed husband’s penis, twice. She then sought help from a blacksmith, who made her a metal phallus. It broke the demon’s teeth and sent him off for good. They later enshrined it in Kanayama Shrine as a sort of commemoration.

(Greg Lane)