INTERNATIONAL PENIS DAY

IS THERE AN INTERNATIONAL PENIS DAY?

Although it sounds strange, it does exist, and it is March 15 when it is celebrated.

It seems like a joke but it is not, it is a way to celebrate fertility, long marriages, and healthy births. It is a Shinto festival of fertility celebration that takes place in the city of Komaki, about 45 minutes from Nagoya. Also, every spring, people flock to Kawasaki, Japan, to celebrate Kanamara Matsuri, also known as the ‘Festival of the Steel Phallus’, the main celebration of which takes place every year on the first Sunday in April.

This results in International Penis Day, where each year participants appreciate fertility, long marriages, and healthy deliveries. A 2-meter-and-a-half penis is carved out of cypress wood, suspended on a palanquin, and moved from the Tajta Jinja Shrine to the Tamahime-no-mikyo Shrine (the female) by the 42-year-old men.

Not everything is solemnity and seriousness, the assistants -many of whom go as a family- show themselves with pallets, candles or penis-shaped glasses. The festival began in the 17th century, during the Edo period, when local prostitutes gathered to pray to the ‘sex gods’ for protection against sexually transmitted diseases at the Kanamara shrine in Kawasaki city.

The festival raises awareness about safe sex practices and raises funds for HIV prevention and although the celebration has a festive spirit, where drinking sake and throwing rice balls are part of the tradition, the truth is that the theme of the same also has to do with something the Japanese take very seriously: birth and renewal.

In addition, attendees think that celebrating this day improves fertility and helps lead to a better marriage.