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Reuters
Some 30,000 visitors packed into this local shrine, south of Tokyo, looking for a laugh or something more permanent. In a three-century-old ritual, a band of merry locals carry omikoshi, or portable phallic shrines in most cases with hopes of increasing their odds of fertility. In baby challenged Japan, this is a growing concern. But foreign visitors also flocked to this shrine, many amazed that a full frontal public display of this kind was possible
Definitely more liberal in Japan, yeah, no, you wouldn’t find a festival like this in the UK, maybe in secret somewhere, but nothing like this.
Erotic candies are not for every taste at the festival, but these women are not shying away from sweets. This shrine has become known internationally after foreigners started joining its annual phallic festival a few decades ago. Many of the visitors today are apparently here to just have fun. There are some who are really serious about making their wishes.
The wishes are they need babies, but some need boyfriends first.
I’d really like to have a baby, and before that, I need a boyfriend. I came here hoping these wishes would come true.
The festival began over 300 years ago after ladies of the night demanded protection from an epidemic of syphilis. Now the shrine says its god is believed to help protect people from the AIDS virus and to alleviate the plight of its sufferers.
Toshi Mae