Honen Matsuri: A Phallic Fertility Festival

I should start this entry by warning you that many (if not all) of the pictures below may contain phallic symbols. None of which are inappropriate - they just may not be appropriate for the eye's of children. So...proceed with caution! :) Just felt the need to give readers a fair warning before jumping into this rather entertaining blog post. 

Last April, I read a magazine article about the Honen Matsuri ("Harvest Festival"). A fertility festival that is held every March right outside of Nagoya. I had vowed to myself that I would check it out this year - since my goal while living in Japan has been to have as many new and cultural experiences as possible. And, as the date approached, I realized that basically every other foreigner living in this area was also planning to attend the festival as well. So on the morning of March 15th, I jumped on the train (with just about everyone I've encountered since arriving in Japan) and headed to the festival! 

Although the festival is often referred to as the "Penis Festival" due to the amount of penis-shaped items (and there are TONS) - the festival is not actually dedicated to them. "Honen" means prosperous year in Japanese - implying a rich harvest. So, the festival actually celebrates the blessings of a bountiful harvest and prosperity and fertility in all aspects of life. Couples may pray for children, the unmarried may pray for a husband/wife, and farmers may pray for a bountiful harvest. There are a few of these types of festivals around Japan; however, this is one of the main ones. 

We arrived at the festival around 10am - just as a bunch of men were having some kind of competition in the middle of the street. I have searched and searched and still cannot determine exactly what was going on. Oh, how I wish my Japanese language skills were stronger! Check out the video below - and allow your imagination to make up some fun stories! 

Then, we climbed a hill to Kumano-sha Shrine where many of the wooden phalluses were being displayed before the parade. Interestingly, on even-numbered years, the phalluses are displayed at a different shrine in the city.  If walking around and taking in the sites wasn't enough - there were many Japanese people encouraging us to touch, rub, and even kiss the penises. We settled on some quick pictures instead. I had also read that woman wanting to get pregnant are supposed to rub the wooden penis as it is supposed to bring them good luck. This year, I decided to skip that ritual as well! 

After getting our fill of pictures, we headed down the hill and back to Tagata Jinja, where most of the festival was taking place. Like most Japanese festivals, there were food vendors everywhere and we perused the stalls of penis-shaped foods. Then, we claimed our milk crates (there was a parking lot filled with crates for people to sit on) and did some major people watching as we ate and waited for the parade to start. While there were probably more foreigners at this festival than Japanese, we VERY frequently found ourselves as the subjects of people's photos. And, they were not even trying to be discreet about it! At one point, a man started walking around us and took pictures for about five minutes. I actually put my scarf over my head - which I am sure made for an even more interesting photo. Who knows what he told people when he showed it to them!!! 

The procession started around 2pm. Shinto priests lead the way, purifying the paths between the two temples. Next, several 36-year old women (wearing traditional Japanese clothing) followed carrying 60 cm phalluses. Apparently 36 is an unlucky age to be a single woman in Japan. Then came the mikoshis (portable shrines) - one containing the deity and the other containing the large wooden phallus, which weighed 620 pounds and was made from a single tree. The men carrying the large wooden phallus were all apparently 42 years old...which is an unlucky age for men to be single in Japan. Throughout the parade, men and women touched and rubbed the small wooden penises, workers handed out free glasses of sake, and the participants often stopped to quickly spin the giant phallus around in circles while singing/saying prayers. Quite the spectacle - that's for sure! This was definitely another experience to add to my "strange" Japanese experiences - and even more support for "oxymoron" being my word to describe the entire country of Japan!!

Since my descriptions just don't do this experience justice - check out the pictures and videos below!