Perhaps better known to foreigners as "Penis Festival", this annual celebration of fertility takes place at Tagata Shrine in Komaki (north of Nagoya) on March 15th. The focus of the festival is a procession where teams of 12 local men (aged 42) carry a 13 foot, 620lb. phallus, hand-carved every year by a master craftsman from a cypress cut down in the dead of winter, from Kumano Shrine to Tagata Shrine 1.5km away. The procession is symbolic of a local warlord's conjugal visits to his wife. The festival features free booze, obnoxious foreigners, and interesting, um, souvenirs and candy.
A woodcarver hawking his wares in front of the station.
A woodcarver hawking his wares in front of the station.
Camera: Canon (Canon Eos Kiss Digital X) |
Original size: 1200px x 800px |
Current: 400px x 267px |