Currently, more than 2,466,000 divinities are enshrined here at Yasukuni Shrine. These are souls of men who made ultimate sacrifice for their nation since 1853 during national crises such as the Boshin War, the Seinan War, the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese wars, World War I, the Manchurian Incident, the China Incident and the Greater East Asian War (World War II). These people, regardless of their rank or social standing, are considered to be completely equal and worshiped as venerable divinities of Yasukuni.

So again, why all this controversy?
What the website fails to mention is that also enshrined are over 1000 convicted war criminals, including more than 10 “Class A” criminals (whatever that means). I really don’t wanna get into it, so, if you are interested in reading more about that, both BBC and CNN have articles on the subject.

Chalk this up in the category of bizarre Japan. This weekend I had the chance to go to Kanamara Matsuri, commonly referred to by foreigners as “The Penis Festival.” Every year Kanamara Shrine holds this festival on the 1st Sunday in April in Kawasaki, Kanagawa. According to Wikipedia:

The Kanamara Matsuri is centered around a local penis-venerating shrine, once popular among prostitutes who wished to pray for protection against sexually transmitted diseases. It is said that there are divine protections also in business prosperity and the clan’s prosperity, easy delivery, marriage, and married couple harmony, etc. Today, the festival is used to raise money for HIV research. There’s also a legend of a demon that hid inside a young girl and castrated two young men on their wedding nights before a blacksmith fashioned an iron phallus that was used to break the demon’s teeth, leading to the enshrinement of the item.

Metropolis had this to say in their article about Kanamara Matsuri:

Today, the highlights of this saucy festival include transvestites parading through the town’s streets carrying a mikoshi (portable shrine) with a humongous pink phallus on top. And, if that’s not guaranteed to make you blush as deeply as the surrounding cherry blossoms, then the spectacle of grandmas and grandpas sucking on carnal candy and sweetmeat replicas of this stupendous phallus, is more than likely to. Other attractions include locals carving penises out of daikon (radish), children and young women sitting astride penis-shaped seesaws for good luck and fertility blessings, as well as a seated banquet in the compound of Kanamara Jinja (aka Wakamiya Hachiman-gu shrine) where the phallic radishes are auctioned.

As you might expect, because of the nature of this festival, the photos and videos I have are probably not safe for work (NSFW), but neither are they x-rated. The photos and videos from Kanamara Matsuri are not for everyone; however, they are somewhat interesting, sometimes surprising, usually inappropriate and definitely bizarre. If this sounds like something that would interest you, then continue on at your own risk to see the photos and a movie.

I have been in Japan for more than 3 years now and I am very rarely surprised by much of anything anymore…That being said, I was surprised about a couple things at this festival…

I thought a lot of people would be somewhat shy around the giant phallus, but it pretty much the opposite. I was really surprised how people were not only posing but holding their poses and waiting for everyone to take photos! Some people would even do a couple different poses, turn to one side, then turn to the other.

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And I mean it is not like it isn’t obvious that EVERYONE is either taking photos and/or videos of them. See for yourself.

The other thing that surprised me was how many people brought young children and made it a family event. A lot of families seem fine with their young sons or daughters sucking on a lollipop shaped like a penis or having the children pose with the big phallus. I mean, really? You think that even though everyone obviously is taking photos that they will not take your photo or is it that you just don’t care?

Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t consider myself conservative by any means and I was not offended, embarrassed, or uncomfortable to be at the penis festival, but just knowing that my mom and dad read my website from time to time makes me somewhat uncomfortable posting about Kanamara Matsuri! I am not sure I would like to go to this festival with my parents and if I had kids, if I were to bring them, I seriously doubt I would let them suck a penis or vagina shaped lollipop with so many people/photographers around. Especially in Japan where everyone has a cellphone, and every cellphone can take photos and/or videos. I mean, REALLY? These people don’t mind? This isn’t an awkward situation?

Anyway, there are two main parts to the penis festival, the parade and the events at the shrine. The parade is fairly short and participants carry around 3 portable shrines. A big steel phallus, a big pink phallus (carried by transvestites) and a wooden one.

The shrine is where most of these photos are from and maybe you can get a good idea of what goes on there. In addition to posing with penis you can, carve a penis (or vagina) from a large radish, eat food shaped like a penis (or vagina), walk over a relatively small penis or buy numerous things shaped like a penis (or vagina), all presumably for good luck with being fertile and protection from HIV and other STDs.

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Now this guy has the right idea.

If you want to see more, there are a lot more photos of the penis festival in my gallery. The password is “i am mature” with NO spaces and NO quotations. Below is a video. If you cannot see it, here it is in google video.

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The best time to go here is during cherry blossom season, which is usually around the first week in April. Heian Shrine is one of the most famous places in Kyoto to see cherry blossoms, personally I prefer the Path of Philosophy though. To see the cherry blossoms here you have to pay an extra fee to go into the garden.

If you are short on time during your trip to Kyoto, it wouldn’t be so bad to skip the Heian Shrine (especially if it is not cherry blossom season). Below is a photo of a huge tori gate and in the background you can (kind of) see the entrance of Heian Shrine.

A little information about the deer; for the most part the deer are really well behaved (some even seem to bow after or before you feed them–really I promise!) and pose no threat to you but there are some things to take caution about:

• • Avoid deer with antlers–there is a festival in October where the deers get their antlers cut off, but there are still some that do have them (as you can see in the photo below I did not follow my own advice but I do not recommend approaching deers with antlers). Obviously you do not want to get rammed by a deer but even more so by a deer that has sharp and hard antlers.
  • Do not make sudden movements–not only will this make the deer uneasy and maybe run away, but you also might anger another person who is trying to take a photo of the deer (this happened to me a couple of times and I was not too happy about losing my subject!)
  • Be aware of baby deer–if there is a baby there are likely to be parents close by and nothing angers a parent more than if the parent feels their child is in danger!

The deer are really used to visitors and a lot of times will pose nicely with you. If they find out you have food to give them they will follow you around for a little bit and sometimes call their friends over. Also, I was somewhat surprised at the whining sounds deers make. Check out the video of the deer to hear it.

Want to see more photos of Nara Park? Take a look at the gallery to see more photos of Nara Park!

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If you are going to see the fall leaves know that the two areas of Nikko change colors at different times. The Nikko National park at a much higher elevation and tends to change color about 2 weeks before the central area. I was there just a little late for Nikko National Park area just a little early for Central Nikko.

Nikko is about 2 hours by train from Tokyo and there is no shinkansen that stops there. From Tokyo, you should take a train from Asakusa and if from the north you can take a shinkansen to Utsunomiya (if you like gyoza, Utsunomiya is famous for gyoza) and change to the JR Nikko line. For more information about access, see the Nikko Tourist Site.

To be honest, you probably only need a day to see most of, if not all, of the temples Nikko has to offer. The main ones you will want to see are Toshogu Shrine (housing the mausoleum of shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu and that of his grandson Iemitsu), Rinnoji, Futarasan Jinja (a shrine which dates to the year 767) and Shikyo Bridge (sacred bridge which after November 2006 you can no longer walk across).

For more information see the Japan-Guide or the official Nikko Tourist Site.

The other theme you will notice beside the tori gates are the fox statues and references. It is said the the fox is the messenger of Inari. Tori gates are one of the most iconic symbols of Japan and the thousands of tori gates at Fushimi Inari Shrine make for a great backdrop. My advice is to find a place you like and then just wait for the right moment to take a photo.

For more information see the Japan-Guide.com.

Arashiyama is perhaps most famous for it’s bamboo groves (above), Togetsukyo Bridge (below), and Tenryuji; however, there are many smaller and off-the-beaten-path places that aren’t too far from the path which makes wondering around quite nice.Other activities that are nice are taking a rickshaw ride though Arashiyama, The Sagano Romantic Train (Sagano Torokko Ressha) and the Hozu River Boat Tour.

For access information for Arashiyama please see the Japan-Guide.com.

Another interesting thing about Yoyogi Park is that all types of people gather here. If you come on a weekend you will see people playing sports, juggling, playing instruments, dancing and anything else that can be done outside. One of the more unique groups of people is the interest group that is all about the 50s (or maybe 60s). I am not sure if these people dress (and style their hair) like this all the time and are stuck in a time warp or if it is just a weekend activity but you really should take a minute to watch this short video of them dancing.

Yoyogi Park is just minutes from Harajuku Station and is next to Meiji Shrine, so as a photographer you can easily make it a day at these very different (but close) areas. For more information please see the Japan-Guide.com.

Also Miyajima, one of Japan’s 3 most scenic views, is just a short ferry ride away. If you plan on visiting Miyajima, a lot of people stay in Hiroshima for the night and visit Miyajima the next day because Hiroshima has much more of a nightlife, restaurants, cheaper places to stay and more things to do; however if you are a photographer I recommend staying the night in Miyajima. While it is a little more expensive and there is no nightlife, you will find it really nice before and after all the tourists leave the island.

For more information, please see the Japan-Guide.com or here is the official Hiroshima City website.