The Japanese call it the Hōnen Matsuri, which literally means “Harvest Festival.” But let’s be honest. This is the Penis Party.
Japan’s native religion is Shinto, and like Shamanism or Druidism, it is nature-based. In Shinto, all aspects of nature have their holy days and are rightfully celebrated, including those of the male and men. How this is interpreted, however, will knock you flat.
Circuit parties don’t have this many penises coming at you. They are literally everywhere you look: on flags, in sculpture, and on scads of merchandise. Sake pitchers? Penises. Key chains? Penises. Good luck charms? Penises. The food? Sugar-covered penises. All erect, all massively proportioned (eat your heart out, Paddy O’Brian). At the shrines, you ring penis-shaped bells for fertility, go up stairs whose rails are tipped with penis heads, and throw coins into penis receptacles. You can tie written prayers to massive carved penises lining the walls and gardens. Even the incense burners are fashioned into penises.
The real showstopper, however, is the procession. A massive log, sometimes weighing over 600 lbs. and several feet long, is carved into—you guessed it—an erect penis, which is then marched through town as a portable shrine on the shoulders of men 42 years of age, which is considered an unfertile age. Directly behind the men are elaborately-dressed women, all of whom are 36 years old (the unfertile female age), each cradling a smaller carved wooden penis, whose tip can be rubbed for good luck and fertility. Before and after are pennants and banners all depicting the male organ in its most impassioned state. I ever saw so many penises flapping in the breeze.
For all the giggle-inducing and/or mind-blowing (ahem) iconography, the purpose is very Japanese in its straightforwardness. Whereas in the West fecundity is seen as a female domain—Mother Earth, Great Goddeses—in Japan, male and female are given equal treatment. The giant carved penis is taken from the male shrine at one end of town to the female shrine at the other end, where the masculine and feminine aspects “join” to assure a plentiful harvest in the fall. FYI, a celebration of female genitalia always follows the day of the male festival.
And don’t think for a minute this is in any way somber or serious. The Japanese love a good party, and they go gonzo with this one. Sake is free and flowing, turning a very mystical occurrence into a giant block party. With penises.
Shinto being a national thing, these festivals take place all over the country, but a few are real standouts. North of the industrial city of Nagoya (about midway between Tokyo and Osaka) is Komaki, and this celebration reigns supreme, drawing looky-loos from all over the world. Falling on March 15, which is right before spring planting, thousands gather along the parade route to the Tagata Shrine to watch the parade, and it isn’t that unusual for spectators to set up their own penis-shaped icons on the sidelines. Once the giant penis makes completes its journey, the rest of the day is an out-and-out party on the shrine grounds. It officially ends around 4:30 PM, but unofficial parties keep the good cheer flowing well into evening.
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