Japanese People Love Cocks

Man oh man do the Japanese love cocks. The town of Kawasaki has an annual festival called Kanamara Matsuri, or The Festival of the Steel Phallus, and as you can see from these photos, people go insane at the sight of giant wooden and steel cocks! 

According to The Huffington Post (link below), the celebration is held on the first Sunday in April, is close to 500 years old, and had a fairly interesting origin. "It’s a celebration which dates back to Japan’s Edo era in the 16th century and would see prostitutes gather outside a shrine to pray for financial prosperity and protection against sexually transmitted diseases."

"A more fantastic tale lies in the fabled 'vagina dentata,' or toothed vagina, which supposedly castrated several poor young men on their wedding nights. The woman cursed with the toothed vagina (most likely a metaphor for syphilis, which was common then) went to see a blacksmith, who forged her an iron dildo in order to break the teeth of her inner demon, thus protecting the penis of her future suitor. The Kanamara shrine is dedicated to the blacksmith, and over the centuries sex workers have paid pilgrimage to the shrine to seek its powers of protection."

Shit man, see this is what's wrong with America. We're too young to have crazy festivals like this that people don't question. Maybe if Thomas Jefferson had spent less time laying pipe in Sally Hemings and more time dreaming up crazy tales about demons and dicks, this would be a more fun place to live. 

Via The Huffington Post