I know you are wondering where the hell I went on the weekend! Darin made this little flashing image of the main attraction at the Kanamara Festival (aka the Fertility Festival) in Kawasaki. If the flashing annoys you - just scroll down quickly. This festival (which Darin demands I call 'the penis festival') was a lot smaller than I thought it would be - it was really just a little local festival, and I have a feeling that it caters to a lot of dirty foreigners like us who just want to see a big bunch of penises. Nearly everything was written in English, it is located near the US military base in Yokosuka, and they were selling french fries. Regardless, in a country that suffers these kind of problems, there was no sign of restraint today.
Highlights apart from the large pink penis carried by some gorgeous transvestites included the man handmolding penis and vagina candy, daikons carved as penises, the gorgeous weather, and the anticipation of more upcoming summer festivals and fireworks displays.
I could show you some knitting progress photos, but I figure these are way more fun:
some lovingly carved daikon
Wow. Pinku's first non-worksafe post. And I'd like to know where all the female bits statues were? Fertility, right? Kinda need a uterus if you'd like to do the whole fertility thing.
This somehow reminds of the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian day parade where there are usually full reproductive organs of both genders made into statuary.
Posted by: freecia | April 05, 2005 at 06:00 PM
I went to one of those on the other side of Honshu when I lived there. The penises were much less garish, just wood or stone. In the end I felt it was happening mainly for the oji-sans to get off on foreign girls riding the giant wood penis and licking the penis lollipops. Ew.
Posted by: Heidi | April 06, 2005 at 12:55 AM
How fun! I would love to go to a crazy Penis Festival!
That article is odd. are they saying that the women aren't having sex because they don't want to or the husbands don't want to. At first it sounded like the women didn't want it, but then started talking about how the husbands viewed the women as "mother substitutes." I'm so confused.
Posted by: Jenn | April 06, 2005 at 05:05 AM
Very fun- hehe.
My boss actually met his partner at that festival... he takes a lot of (um) pleasure in telling the story. eeew.
Posted by: frecklegirl | April 06, 2005 at 11:17 AM
Oh my goodness! Is it hot in here?
Heehee. Great animation there!
Posted by: momo | April 06, 2005 at 10:17 PM
amazing. I had no idea they did things like this in japan, and that article was pretty odd and scary. I didn't know that Japanese couples were having such problems, and I find it very weird. Ah well. Definitely an interesting post
Posted by: Brittany | April 07, 2005 at 06:15 AM
What's missing here? Oh, the woman's parts. I thought the woman's goods are needed to during fertility. I could be wrong LOL!
Posted by: empress | April 07, 2005 at 11:55 AM
yay! i actually wanted to go to that festival. but, alas i am far up north where all we have at our festivals is floats that light up. ahhh, zan nen
Posted by: queen t | April 07, 2005 at 06:38 PM