# Size Matters at Willy Festival **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 3, 2016, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-matters-at-willy-festival/751086 "2016-04-03T16:25:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-matters-at-willy-festival/751086/1 "2016-04-03T16:25:33Z")
Most places, in spring a young man’s fancy turns to love. But for the Japanese, bless them, thoughts turn to the annual Shinto Kanamara Matsuri, aka the Penis Festival, and not just young men’s thoughts either. Revelers in Kawasaki today (Sunday) pulled giant penises through the streets and sucked on penis lollipops. Mildly NSFW story here: [www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/919677/size-matters-at-japan-phallus-festival](http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/919677/size-matters-at-japan-phallus-festival) Excerpt: \*\*"Known as the Festival of the Steel Phallus – or colloquially as the ‘Willy Festival’ – legend has it that in the Edo Period (1603-1868) a sharp-toothed demon inhabiting a woman’s vagina castrated several unfortunate young men on their wedding nights. “A local blacksmith came to the rescue by forging an iron dildo to break the demon’s teeth and today a three-foot (one-metre) black steel phallus sits in the shrine’s courtyard to honour the Shinto deities of fertility, childbirth and protection from sexually transmitted infections.”\*\* Some very NSFW photos of the festival two years ago here: [Japan's Annual Penis Festival Is As Phallic As You'd Expect (PHOTOS) | HuffPost Weird News](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/07/japan-penis-festival-kanamara-matsuri_n_5106378.html) ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-matters-at-willy-festival/751086/2 "2016-04-03T18:00:53Z")
I liked the candles best. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-matters-at-willy-festival/751086/3 "2016-04-08T00:34:26Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > … sucked on penis lollipops. It’s never too early to get felatio training… ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-matters-at-willy-festival/751086/4 "2016-04-08T14:08:54Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Excerpt: \*\*"Known as the Festival of the Steel Phallus – or colloquially as the ‘Willy Festival’ – legend has it that in the Edo Period (1603-1868) a sharp-toothed demon inhabiting a woman’s vagina castrated several unfortunate young men on their wedding nights. “Several”? 😕 You’d think after the first, other volunteers would be few! :eek: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-matters-at-willy-festival/751086/5 "2016-04-08T14:30:27Z")
Never underestimate the power of teenage horniness… ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-matters-at-willy-festival/751086/6 "2016-04-08T17:30:24Z")
“So, first penetrate your new bride with the steel dildo. If you hear a crunching noise, RUN. Otherwise you are safe to consummate your marriage.” \ “Unless the demon has gotten wise to this trick.” ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-matters-at-willy-festival/751086/7 "2016-04-09T04:53:41Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > – legend has it that in the Edo Period (1603-1868) a sharp-toothed demon inhabiting a woman’s vagina castrated several unfortunate young men on their wedding nights. Ithink that if these young men were inserting their testicles into the womans vagina, they were doing it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-matters-at-willy-festival/751086/8 "2016-04-13T17:50:16Z")
Birth control in the Edo period was a bit primitive by modern standards. But it \*was \*effective. 🙂