by © Steve Grove 2009 Photos: babibubebo.com

A large, pink phallus turns the corner and heads down the street. Sitting atop the shoulders of 10-12 men in bandanas, it bobs up and down to their rhythmic chants. Locals carve white radishes into images of the male reproductive system, preparing to auction them off at an afternoon banquet. Transvestites line the street; their red lipstick and hairy legs are no less a contrast than the grandmother who's licking on a lollypop that's in the shape of a....well, you can probably guess by now.

Is it a fraternity house event? A giant bachelor party? Some kind of dirty magazine's year-end bash? No, this is the Kanamara Matsuri, a yearly fertility festival held at Kanamara Shrine in Kawasaki, Japan. Created back in Japan's Edo period (1603-1867) to pray for sexual safety (especially against syphilis) among Kawasaki's prostitutes, this Shinto gathering now helps raise money for HIV/AIDS research. But the festival attracts more than just those interested in fighting STDs; it also draws Japanese couples looking for good fertility luck, a large gay/lesbian crowd, lots of proud locals, and scores of interested foreigners who come to gawk at the gigantic portable plaster phallus shrine and buy souvenir John Thomas lollypops and charms.

While the festival seems bizarre to those of us foreigners present, to the Japanese it is standard fare. Fertility festivals exist in more than a few locales in Japan, where ninety-five percent of the population is Buddhist or Shinto. Here, there is no shame in holding a festival about sex at a religious venue. For many in attendance, the liberal mood is refreshing. To me, it once again challenges my preconceived notions about rigidity in Japanese religious culture. It is not the first time. A couple of months ago I walked through the sacred confines of a different Shinto Shrine, only to find a toy stand racked with Japanese manga (comic) character masks, bags of candy, and even toy guns. So maybe today's festival should not surprise me.

But one event, involving a middle aged-man, a unique Shinto statue, and an unfortunate case of the butterfingers, most definitely will.

It is certainly not by coincidence that the Kanamara Matsuri falls during the cherry blossom season; a precious two-week window where Japan's famous flowers bloom. Today, like every weekend day in the Spring, there are outdoor parties all over the archipelago. Throngs of frisky fun-seekers head outdoors, spreading blue tarps under cherry trees, sipping silver-canned Asahi beers and eating Japanese picnic food - sushi, sukiyaki, takoyaki (fried octopus), tempura, and tofu - under the pink blaze of blossoms overhead. On a small stage, a band plays a mixed bag of tunes, from rock and roll to pop to country. Red-faced teenagers and passed-out grandfathers lay within feet of each other.

It is crowded. But to pass through the mass assembled in the courtyard, I must navigate many obstacles besides people - namely, tall, neatly piled mountains of plastic picnic trash standing at intervals throughout the grounds. On the other side there, I'm sad to find out that they have run out of phallic lollypops - can you imagine a cooler souvenir to send home? We do our best to rebound. My Canadian friend Dave stops to pose for a picture with a transvestite. They both flex their muscles and smile, exchanging back slaps before parting.