"If You Like Genetalia, You'll Like Komaki" Komaki by AKtravelers

Komaki, in Aichi Prefecture northeast of Nagoya, is famous for the Togata Shrine and the yearly fertility festival (held 15 March) that entails parading a 13-foot long, 600-pound p e n i s made of Japanese cypress for 1 mile. At the end, the *** is thrust into the Tagata Shrine's main building, to the unrestained delight of of the people. The religious purpose of this 1500-year-old ritual is to ask the gods for a productive growing season, but there's no doubt that the festival continues due to its economic impact, as thousands of people -- mostly Japanese but many from around the world -- come to this small town for the festivities.

The people that are a part of the festival celebrate with lots of abandon and sake. It is not a place for the prudish! It's considered to be an honor to be one of the women chosen to carry 3-foot- phalluses at the beginning of the procession -- only 36-year-old women are chosen because that's a year of bad luck for Japanese females. THe same is true for the men who get to carry that matsuri -- they are all 42 (interesting how the age of bad luck corresponds neatly with each gender's mid-life crisis!). Additionally, women sem to love mugging for the camera in front of any and all p e n i s-shaped objects that are part of the festivities! Luckily for them, there's a cadre of dirty old men dressed up in official-looking costumes that are zealously willing to oblige!

It wouldn't be a festival in Japan without street food and sake, and the fertility festival was full of specially-shaped food for the occasion. Try p e n i s shaped candied bananas and vagina-shaped lollipops! Of course, there are also huge hot dogs, zucchini and other erotic foods there, too! And the Japanese people were not self-conscious at all about consuming these items in public -- no more so than we would be eating a candy cane during December! There's even no problems with kids buying some -- they just ask mom for the yen!