# Somebody explain the Japanese Penis Parade to me **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 16, 2007, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-explain-the-japanese-penis-parade-to-me/408298 "2007-06-16T23:00:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2007, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-explain-the-japanese-penis-parade-to-me/408298/1 "2007-06-16T23:00:35Z")
I need someone familiar with Japanese culture to explain the following Japanese news video on LiveLeak to me: > **[ItemFix - Social Video Factory](https://www.itemfix.com/?r=ll)** > > Social Video Factory I have broken the link because it shows a giant penis being carried on the shoulders of participants in some sort of parade. Though video is labelled as depicting Chinese people, the newscasters reporting on the parade are definitely Japanese, and I believe the parade is as well. So what is going on here? And why don’t \*we \* have Penis Parades? ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2007, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-explain-the-japanese-penis-parade-to-me/408298/2 "2007-06-16T23:05:44Z")
Hounen Matsuri parade. Try “japan parade penis” in Google! I learned something! ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2007, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-explain-the-japanese-penis-parade-to-me/408298/3 "2007-06-16T23:20:48Z")
Not safe for work links: http: [//metropolis.co.jp/tokyotravel/tokyojapantravel/365/tokyojapantravelinc.htm](https://metropolis.co.jp/tokyotravel/tokyojapantravel/365/tokyojapantravelinc.htm) > [@](#): > > Spring is in the air, and perhaps the joys of the season in the Kanto region are nowhere more lusciously expressed than in Kawasaki Daishi, Kanagawa Prefecture, which is bracing itself for its annual phallic festival. Shinto offers more titillating tumescent thrills than most world religions, as the Kanamara Matsuri (Festival of the Steel Phallus) this year on Mar 31 and April Fool’s Day proves. > > Sexually transmitted diseases spurred the popularization of phallic symbols in some of Japan’s festivals dedicated to the male member, such as this one dating back to the Edo period (1603-1867). At that time, Kawasaki’s “ladies of the night” prayed not only that business would be brisk, but for protection from syphilis. Come cherry blossom time, they gathered baskets of bamboo shoots and other sprouting delicacies, carried the shrine’s phallic image in procession through the streets, and then sat down to a merry banquet on mats spread out on the courtyard of Kanamara Shrine. > > With the spread of syphilis now curbed, participants in the modern festival solicit donations for HIV/AIDS research. Today, the highlights of this saucy festival include transvestites parading through the town’s streets carrying a mikoshi (portable shrine) with a humungous pink phallus on top. And, if that’s not guaranteed to make you blush as deeply as the surrounding cherry blossoms, then the spectacle of grandmas and grandpas sucking on carnal candy and sweetmeat replicas of this stupendous phallus, is more than likely to. Even the wikipedia article has an image that makes one to disable the link, just remove the space: http: [//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanamara\_Matsuri](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanamara_Matsuri) ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2007, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-explain-the-japanese-penis-parade-to-me/408298/4 "2007-06-16T23:37:18Z")
Somewhere around here I have a photo of a giant penis float being pulled through the French Quarter during the annual Krewe du Vieux parade in New Orleans. I’m talking an eight-foot-tall penis; and that’s only a small portion of the various genitals displayed in floats and hand-carried “artwork” in that parade. It happens every year about three weeks before Mardi Gras day. So if you’re wondering why we don’t have penis parades? We do. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-explain-the-japanese-penis-parade-to-me/408298/5 "2007-06-17T00:10:23Z")
I find that oddly reassuring, and equally disquieting. ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-explain-the-japanese-penis-parade-to-me/408298/6 "2007-06-17T00:14:34Z")
Tell me I’m not the only one who was reminded of the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile… ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-explain-the-japanese-penis-parade-to-me/408298/7 "2007-06-17T00:28:08Z")
Six posts, and not one mention of “penis ensues?” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-explain-the-japanese-penis-parade-to-me/408298/8 "2007-06-17T01:23:38Z")
It’s a festival tp promote fertility. **Gigobuster** covered the more nuanced aspects of it. Other than that, giant phallic objects are fun! ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-explain-the-japanese-penis-parade-to-me/408298/9 "2007-06-17T02:15:43Z")
Ah hah! Found the Krewe du Vieux penis float photo, and I’ve uploaded it to my Photobucket page. This is an **EXTREMELY NSFW** photo!! In fact, I’m breaking the link just to make sure you appreciate how totally NSFW it is. Take out the extra space between the /'s after http and you can see for yourselves. http:/ /i100.photobucket.com/albums/m5/MamaTiger4747/That-Float.jpg :eek: :eek: ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-explain-the-japanese-penis-parade-to-me/408298/10 "2007-06-17T02:57:52Z")
> [@](#): > > With the spread of syphilis now curbed, participants in the modern festival solicit donations for HIV/AIDS research. This just strikes me as so… nice. It’s always good to see venerable old traditions adapted to serve the needs of the community in the modern age. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-explain-the-japanese-penis-parade-to-me/408298/11 "2007-06-17T05:57:09Z")
It is Japan, and there are a number of similar festivals around the country. They are fertility rites, and this particular one is 1200 years old, according to the commentary. Without the Western hangups about body parts being “evil,” there used to be more of these, but this is something which, for better or worse, is getting toned down a bit. ---
**Author:** ![leafrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cab0a1/32.png) [@leafrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leafrog)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-explain-the-japanese-penis-parade-to-me/408298/12 "2007-06-17T06:07:11Z")
Hounen Matsuri! This takes place in Komaki, a small town in Aichi prefecture, just north of the large city of Nagoya and close to the small town of Toyota, which is famous for some reason or another. I lived in Komaki for a year, and was lucky enough to go to this matsuri (festival) just before I moved closer to Tokyo in 1995. I was taken to the festival by some of my English students, and as at all Japanese festivals, consumption of beer and sake was par for the course. As has already been mentioned by previous posters, this is a fertility festival, though the one in the video is not the one in **GIGObuster** ’s link. I believe there are several such festivals in Japan. The video shows the festival at the [Tagata](http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q5/leafrog_festivus/tagata2.jpg) [Jinja](http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q5/leafrog_festivus/tagata1.jpg) (jinja is Japanese for shrine). Check out the [detail on this poster](http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q5/leafrog_festivus/detail.jpg) ! Cracked me up. This festival takes place every year on March 15. There is a significance to the people who carry the float and their age, tying into Buddhism. I believe the women who carry these [smaller penises](http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q5/leafrog_festivus/itsjustsobeeeg.jpg) (me looking drunk and dorky) are 32, and the men who carry the float are somewhere in their 40s. [The float](http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q5/leafrog_festivus/float.jpg) is quite heavy, and is carved anew each year from a cypress. [Here is an excellent site about the shrine and the festival.](http://www.yamasa.org/japan/english/destinations/aichi/tagata_jinja.html) I miss Japan at times.