rockin'robin
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(March 24) -- Power to the penis!
The Japanese have festivals for just about everything, and one of the most notorious (at least among foreign visitors) is the nation's annual penis festivals.
One of the biggest is held every year on March 15 at a Shinto shrine in Komaki City, outside Nagoya. It's called the Honen Matsuri, which translates as "Harvest Festival."
Of all the parties in honor of the male reproductive organ, this is the one that arouses the most interest -- in large part because of the 8-foot-long, 620-pound wooden penis that is always the star attraction.
The massive wooden statue is crafted anew each year from a cypress tree. According to the Yamasa Institute, the phallus-carving craftsman uses only traditional tools to create this prodigious wooden figure -- and he does so dressed in clothing that has been purified by the shrine.
When he's done, he's created a penis so big it takes up to 60 people to carry it over the mile-long ceremonial route through the town to Tagata Jinja, the Shinto shrine at the heart of the celebration. Tagata houses penis-shaped carvings of all size and is a popular destination throughout the year among couples hoping to conceive, many of whom leave prayers and offerings.
Visitors to the shrine can usual buy a penis charm or amulet, and the festival features all kinds of penis-shaped trinkets and candy.
The same shrine also hosts an annual vagina festival, while another well-known penis festival is held on the first Sunday in April in Kawasaki, near Tokyo.
In a great cultural irony, the same nation that hosts these annual penis rituals is also home to tough censorship laws that actually forbid showing images of a real penis or vagina. But traditional penises are another story ... and phallic shrines (along with all the requisite statues, amulets and totems) have popped up around the nation.
Japanese Celebrate Spring With Penis Festivals - AOL News
The Japanese have festivals for just about everything, and one of the most notorious (at least among foreign visitors) is the nation's annual penis festivals.
One of the biggest is held every year on March 15 at a Shinto shrine in Komaki City, outside Nagoya. It's called the Honen Matsuri, which translates as "Harvest Festival."
Of all the parties in honor of the male reproductive organ, this is the one that arouses the most interest -- in large part because of the 8-foot-long, 620-pound wooden penis that is always the star attraction.
The massive wooden statue is crafted anew each year from a cypress tree. According to the Yamasa Institute, the phallus-carving craftsman uses only traditional tools to create this prodigious wooden figure -- and he does so dressed in clothing that has been purified by the shrine.
When he's done, he's created a penis so big it takes up to 60 people to carry it over the mile-long ceremonial route through the town to Tagata Jinja, the Shinto shrine at the heart of the celebration. Tagata houses penis-shaped carvings of all size and is a popular destination throughout the year among couples hoping to conceive, many of whom leave prayers and offerings.
Visitors to the shrine can usual buy a penis charm or amulet, and the festival features all kinds of penis-shaped trinkets and candy.
The same shrine also hosts an annual vagina festival, while another well-known penis festival is held on the first Sunday in April in Kawasaki, near Tokyo.
In a great cultural irony, the same nation that hosts these annual penis rituals is also home to tough censorship laws that actually forbid showing images of a real penis or vagina. But traditional penises are another story ... and phallic shrines (along with all the requisite statues, amulets and totems) have popped up around the nation.
Japanese Celebrate Spring With Penis Festivals - AOL News
I want to go!:P
