Every spring, thousands of tourists from Japan and overseas descend on a shrine in Tokyo’s neighboring prefecture of Kanagawa to celebrate one thing — the penis.
This symbol of fertility is at the centre of the Kanamara Matsuri (“Festival of the Steel Phallus”), which ranks as one of Japan’s kisai or “bizarre festivals“, and the story behind it is just as bizarre as the festival itself.
According to legend, a demon once sought revenge on a woman who rejected him by taking up residence inside her vagina and biting down on her husband’s penis so she was unable to procreate. In order to solve the problem, the woman paid a blacksmith to create a steel phallus to break the demon’s teeth, which he did, ultimately restoring her fertility.
▼ Today, a replica of that phallus, and the spirit of the blacksmith, are preserved at the shrine, called Kanayama.
Every spring, the venerated items are taken out on mikoshi floats and paraded on the shoulders of worshippers during the Kanamara Matsuri.
You don’t just see giant phalluses at the festival — stallholders join the celebrations by selling all sorts of phallic goods, so you’re bound to see loads of penile paraphernalia in the area.
However, there is one penis that Kanayama Shrine wants to distance itself from, as it’s a mascot that many are mistakenly thinking is an official one related to the shrine.
On March 18, the shrine sent out a tweet on its official Twitter account to set the record straight, saying:
“As of March 2023, there are no official mascot characters for our Kanamara Festival. We do not officially recognise the costumed mascot called Gachachin, which is being treated as an official mascot on the Internet, in any way whatsoever. The maker of the costume performed without permission, but took the costume off in the end, so the shrine discarded it.”
With more than 50,000 people usually attending the festival, it’s easy for things to pop up within the crowd, and it appears that at least one person dressed in a penis costume so impressive that it confused people into thinking it was an official mascot related to the shrine.
The penis costume has been appearing since at least 2015, when the shrine sent out a similar tweet, alerting people to the fact that the character is in no way related to them. Part of the problem is the fact that the character bears a striking resemblance to Gachapin, a famous character from a children’s TV program on Fuji TV.
▼ Gachachin
The name “Gachachin” is a play on “Gachapin”, with “pin” being replaced by chin, a slang word for penis.
▼ The only official giant penises at the festival are the ones carried on people’s shoulders.
So if you’re planning on attending the penis festival this year when it’s held on 2 April, remember to stay well away from any penis characters called Gachachin.
It might look like it’s an official mascot, but it’s a penis that’s actually bordering on copyright infringement, which, as we’ve learnt from the rise and fall of mascot character Chiitan, is a topic that people in Japan don’t take lightly.
Event information
Kanamara Festival / かなまら祭り
Kanayama Shrine, Wakamiya Hachimangu, 2-13-16 Daishi Ekimae, Kawasaki Ward, Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture
神奈川県川崎市川崎区大師駅前2-13-16
Festival Date: Sunday, April 2
Source: Twitter/@kanayamajinja via Net Lab
Photos © SoraNews24
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-- Chiitan’s management speaks out about copyright issues and future with Susaki City
- External Link
- https://soranews24.com/2023/03/28/japanese-penis-festival-shrine-distances-itself-from-penis-mascot/
26 Comments
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Moonraker
Official mascot or not, it is pretty ugly.
Minikaeru
So the problem is not that the mascot looks like a penis, but that it looks like Gachapin?
The Shrine should make some official mascot, even if it never uses it so it can avoid having this kind of confusion, just put anime eyes on the replica and call it the mascot.
sakurasuki
Important part from that article:
Additional information:
Nearest station is Kawasaki-Daishi Station 川崎大師駅, Keikyū Daishi Line 京急大師線.
Main event will be started at 10:00 on Sunday, April 2nd.
https://twitter.com/kanayamajinja/status/1634433825400037376
You're welcome
kohakuebisu
50000 isn't many considering this is Kawasaki with a huge population within an hour. I would have thought it would be much bigger.
wallace
The mascot is very ugly.
Algernon LaCroix
Perhaps due to shrinkage in the cool weather?
Desert Tortoise
That's what she said .....
Coulda been
Actually, she said "WOWEEEE!"
K3PO
Whoever is wearing that unofficial mascot costume is real dick.
gokai_wo_maneku
What this festival really shows is that before western influence invaded Japan, here was no body shyness, or evil of some sort associated with parts of the body.
asusa tabi
this never gets old
Elvis is here
That's a Freudian slip.
No problems here!
wallace
Ugly mascot
Yuuju
Terrible
Chico3
I’m sure most everyone was emotionally erect.
kaimycahl
@Desert Tortoise LMFAO but... in todays world that could be twisted rhetoric "That's what he said"
That's what she said .....
Harry_Gatto
Imagine trying to hold this festival in the US, or any other place with similar religious sensitivities. Perhaps Disney could try it out, just to test the water? That would keep the lawyers busy for years.
badman
They didn't have to be such d**ks! about the costume! ;)
Ah_so
Which reminds me of the gross hypocrisy of Japanese society when artist Megumi Igarashi was prosecuted for creating a canoe modelled on her vagina. Quite a few of the more conservative Japanese posters on this site were in full support of the police action, but had no such condemnation for this festival.
starpunk
I'm too squeamish, I wouldn't even touch let alone buy one of those lollipops.
It wouldn't happen by chance to have the name 'DAN', would it?
wallace
The penis festival is legal and acceptable. But a few years ago a female artist was arrested and charged for making a kayak in the shape of a female sex organ.
Megumi Igarashi, the Japanese artist famous for creating a kayak shaped like her vagina, was found guilty of obscenity in a Tokyo court Monday for digitally distributing 3D scans of her genitals.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tasneemnashrulla/japanese-vagina-kayak-artist-convicted-in-obscenity-trial