Japan's strange "Quarter's Procession"

Hodare Festival in Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture, is considered one of the biggest festivals honoring men's penis in Japan and attracts thousands of people to attend.

The festival takes place every year on the second Sunday of March, during which women who have been married within the previous 12 months dress up in traditional kimonos and sit on giant wooden penises. carried through the streets. The penis carried this year is more than 2.1 meters long and weighs more than 600 kilograms. Festival attendees believe that this giant model will help them have a favorable birth, have a happy marriage and have a lot of luck. Therefore, many people try to reach out to touch it.

Many people may wonder why the Japanese honor "steel treasure". According to legend, in the Edo period (1603-1867), there was a pointy-toothed demon who fell in love with a beautiful girl. But she did not reciprocate his feelings and decided to marry another man. The angry demon got into the girl's genitals and used his sharp teeth to bite off the groom's "vagina" on the wedding night. When the girl remarried, the jealous demon continued to bite off her second husband. Feeling sorry for the girl, the villagers plotted to trick the demon. A blacksmith made a steel "jewel" for the girl to put on her body. The demon broke all its teeth when biting this object, so it had to leave the girl's body. The legend was later commemorated by inserting a steel "vagina" into Kanayama Shrine, which worships Kanayama Hikonokami and Kanayama Himenokami - the two gods of childbirth and belly health.

Kanayama Shrine later became a place where prostitutes prayed for protection from sexually transmitted diseases. Today, many couples come here to pray for their children. The Shinto Prosperity Festival, also known as the Kanamra Matsuri or the Japanese "steel penis procession", is held in the spring. The traditional festival dates back to 1969 and is held annually on the first Sunday of April at Kanayama Shrine in the city of Kawasaki, south of Tokyo.

Since then, the event has always attracted the attention of both locals and tourists around the world. At the festival, images of penises are everywhere, from t-shirts, necklaces, to colorful glasses, compressed trees, key chains or pottery… Even many visitors are excited. Get inspired with these sensitive parts-inspired dishes. Today's Kanamara Matsuri is a place where people of different genders are welcome, even though Japanese society is still not completely open to gay, bisexual and transgender people.

In addition to the giant penis procession, at the Kanamara Matsuri there are also many male fertility-shaped souvenirs for sale, such as key chains, jewelry, pens, toys, and chocolates. -la. But bestsellers are male and female genital candies. To Western culture, these images may seem like bizarre fanfare, but many consider the openness of the festival to be healthy when it comes to celebrating fertility. In fact, many Japanese people come to the festival with their children and don't hesitate to buy them candies in the form of male qi or let them stand next to fake penises for souvenir photos.

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