We have a fair amount of festivals in South Africa. Sure, most of them are centred around food and wine, with the odd one celebrating tie-dye and incense sticks, but they’re all still fun and make for great days. Japan, on the other hand, has a penis festival.

Yes, you read that right.

Shinto Kanamara Matsuri, or the Festival of the Steel Phallus, was started 40 years ago and has grown exponentially. It celebrates the penis and participants pray to the god of fertility and for protection from infections.

But let’s set the scene (bearing in mind the festival is no joke for festival goers). You’re standing there, licking your penis shaped lollipop…

Wearing your favourite penis shaped face mask…

And this moves on by…

It is no joke when you are praying to the gods of fertility, child birth and protection from sexually transmitted infections.

The main part of the festival is at the phallus-shaped Kanayama Shrine in Kawasaki, a place where prostitutes used to gather and pray for protection against STI’s. There are always three penises, known as the three mikoshi: the Kanamara Boat Mikoshi (tall and black), the Elizabeth Mikoshi (big and pink) and the Kanamara Big Mikoshi (squat and wooden).

The festival is not just fun, games and entertainment – it also raises money and awareness for HIV research in the area aimed at fighting the disease. I’m all for prayer, prostitutes of Japan, but let’s start first with safe-sex practices and then hope for divine protection shall we?

[Source: The Daily Mail]