Every year, the Kawasaki’s annual fertility festival (also known as the Kanamara Matsuri) at Hachiman-gu Shrine, attracts thousands of local as well as tourists.
Well widely accepted as an object of worship in Japan, the penis is regarded as man’s most vital and productive/ fertile icon.
The tradition which dates back many centuries was originally started by a legend.
The Vagina Dentata (a demon with very sharp teeth) will hide itself inside the vagina of virgins, maidens, and prostitutes so that when they have intercourse with men, the demon will bite off their men’s penis. Perhaps it is jealous of men and their reproductive power, or it hates the fact that the men will de-flower the ladies?
The fear of having a severed manhood was so great among the men that they stopped having sex with the women altogether. Besides rendering the women barren, the demon also almost destroyed the flesh trade.
In desperation, a group of prostitutes, sexually frustrated wives, and concerned mothers (eager to have grand-children) sought the help of a blacksmith with an ingenious plan: to forge a mental penis (perhaps explaining how we have dildos). The idea is to insert the iron phallus into the vagina so that when the demon bite down on it, will break his teeth instead.
The plan worked perfectly and soon the metal iron phallus (or wooden in some instances) became enshrined as an object of worship.
Besides a celebration of fertility and fruitfulness, the festival is also about the celebration of virility, passion, prosperity, marriage, marital bliss, and protection against sexually transmitted diseases and HIV. Of course we now know that this protection must be coupled with proper condom usage, abstinence, or Tenga sex toys.
- Kanamara Matsuri – Annual Fertility Festival of the Steel Phallus
Kanamara Matsuri for protection from sexually transmitted diseases
Tenga Masturbation Toys from Japan 
