Today is Honen Matsuri at Tagata Jinja in the small town of Komaki, outside Nagoya, which attracts a lot of attention among Westerners because of its phallus-based rituals. It says much about the repressions of a Christian-based culture. The main feature here is a 280 kilogram, 2.5 meter long wooden phallus which protrudes from a mikoshi (as above) and is paraded through the area in traditional manner. For some reason it begins from a certain shrine in odd-numbered years (Kumano-sha) and from another in even years (Shinmei-sha), but it always ends at the host shrine of Tagata.
Sacred rock at Tagata Shrine
As one might suspect, the purpose of the festival is to ensure fertility for the coming year at a time when rice planting is about to begin. But there’s an element too of requesting human fertility, for there’s a parade of 32-year old unmarried women who carry phalluses in the hope of acquiring a husband and children. The shrine literature also says that prayers to phallic objects at the shrine will help prevent or cure sexual illness as well as infertility and other physical troubles between couples.
Prayers are said at the beginning and end of the procession, as well as during a break on the way after the mikoshi is spun round hectically. At the finale, everyone gathers in the courtyard of Tagata Shrine and fights to get hold of one of the small rice cakes (mochi nage) thrown by the priests, which will bring good luck over the coming year.
A few years ago I attended the event and took some pre-digital photos, featured here, but there are a lot better images out there on the net. This site has some pictures as well as a detailed firsthand account… Incidentally the area has a female equivalent too, about which I’ll make a separate post.
Dignitaries with banner
Ritual procession of an unusual mikoshi
Parade of 32 year old childless women
Fertility symbol and source of life
The frenzied 'nagemochi' when people struggle to catch the rice cakes thrown by priests
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