Fertility Festival

        Well, the Hounen matsuri (festival), held annually at Komaki's Tagata-jinja shrine, provides plenty of opportunities for all present to get their hands on some outsized phalli. Yes, this is one of those infamous male fertility festivals that arouse a peculiar brand of curiosity among non-Japanese, particularly those from patrician Europe or North America. The roots of the event are in the agricultural renewal associated with the start of spring, but that is not the reason why people travel to Komaki from all over Japan to witness this spectacle.

      

   If you have been hankering for a glimpse of a three-meter penis being paraded around the streets then this is where you'll want to be on March 15. Just don't expect to enjoy the show alone - this festival attracts the largest number of foreigners you're likely to see anywhere in Japan. For the locals it all seems to add to the atmosphere as they exchange comments about the assembled ranks of English teachers, tourists and U.S. military personnel. Spend time looking along the festival parade, which sets out in the early afternoon from nearby Kumano shrine, or at some of the roadside stalls, and you'll soon find phallic representations that would be hidden away in the adult section of your local video store.

The largest appendage on display is comically Frankfurter-like, and sticks out either side of a small omikoshi (portable shrine) that seems like a rather weak attempt at preserving some dignity. A dozen 42-year old men carry the shrine, 42 being considered an unlucky age for men in Japan. A group of smiling women cradling smaller, 60cm-long members follow the mikoshi on its journey to Tagata-jinja. The crowd are encouraged to look at and touch these offerings in the belief that they will bring good fortune. Traditionally these women would have been 36-years old, an unlucky age for females, but now they may be of various ages.

      
For connoisseurs, these wooden phalli may prove rather tame. In which case be sure to wait for the last of the procession to pass by. The end of the parade is marked by a huge vertical banner on which is painted a remarkably detailed and clearly anatomically correct erect penis.The shrine shop provides further surprises. How many religious establishments can you name that sell suggestively shaped lollipops, phallic key chains or wind-up sex toys, which become noticeably more popular as the day progresses and attendees soak up increasing amounts of beer and sake? But the candy and trinkets are not built to last. If you'd like a more permanent reminder of the day try one of the stalls near the local station. Here vendors and 'artists' offer an array of wooden plaques and sculptures featuring graphic representations of both male and female genitalia. Working up the courage to buy one may prove easier than finding a suitable place at home for your new talking point.

     

Danger is often an integral part of Japanese festivals, and this one is no exception. There is a risk of embarrassment and drunkenness during the day's main parade, but the mochi (rice cake) throwing extravaganza that marks the, er, climax of the event could do some serious damage to heads and limbs if you don't pay attention.The town's great and good old men appear on the second-floor balcony of the shrine annex and hurl face-sized rice cakes at the masses below. Catch one of these rock-hard projectiles and apparently you'll be lucky for the next year. Snaring yourself a mochi, while simultaneously trying to avoid the old ladies scrabbling around your ankles gathering fumbled rice cakes to take home, is more difficult than you might think. But then, who ever said getting some was easy?