Photo by Joanna Karaplis
A huge pink penis is hoisted by revellers at the Kanamara Matsuri.

At first, it seemed just like any other Japanese festival: under the blossoming cherry trees, brightly-decorated stalls offered yakitori (chicken skewers), yakisoba (fried noodles), cold beer, and other common festival fare.

As soon as I neared the shrine, however, I knew I was in the right place: towering above me was a six-foot-tall, shocking-pink penis. Next to it was a smaller (but no less impressive) jet-black one. Both were housed in portable shrines, which would later be hefted up on the shoulders of excited (and for the most part, quite drunk) participants and paraded throughout the town. I was about to experience the infamous "Kanamara Matsuri," or "Festival of the Iron Phallus."

The Kanamara Matsuri takes place annually at Wakamiya Hachiman-gu Shrine in Kawasaki, Kanagawa prefecture (south-west of Tokyo). The deity of this Shinto shrine is Kanamara-sama, which means "Honourable Iron Penis," and people come here to pray for wedded bliss, conception, and safe childbirth. I noticed a daycare right next door, which perhaps attests to Kanamara-sama's effectiveness.

According to the shrine, the Kanamara Matsuri was started by prostitues in the Edo period (1603-1867) to pray for protection from syphilis. Although it may at first appear incompatible with religion and perhaps unsuitable for children, the underlying message of the festival -- that sex is natural, beautiful, and part of life -- is more about celebration than titillation. These days, the festival raises money for AIDS education and prevention, and is popular with people of all ages, nationalities, and sexual orientations.

After admiring the huge phalluses and taking the obligatory pictures to shock and amuse my friends and relatives back home, I explored the rest of the shrine grounds.

In front of the main shrine was a pair of large wooden racks covered in "ema," small wooden tablets that worshippers purchase, write prayers upon, and tie to the racks provided by the shrine. True to the shrine's connection with fertility worship, most of the ema had pictures of a newborn baby swaddled in a blanket, a large penis, or a rendition of Momo-taro, a boy from Japanese folklore who was born from a peach.

Between the racks of prayers sat a blacksmith's anvil with a kinky touch: it had been fashioned with a large penis on top. More interesting than the anvil, however, was the story behind it.

Long ago, a demon fancied a maiden, but she was engaged to be married. Angry that he could not have her, the demon crawled up inside her. Her new husband was in for a shock on their wedding night; his attempt to make love to her ended up in castration as the demon hiding inside her bit off his penis.

Surprisingly undaunted by this, the maiden married again, but her second husband met the same fate. Finally, a blacksmith came up with the idea of making an iron phallus with which to deflower the unlucky maiden: the devil attempted to bite it off as he had the last two, but this time he broke his teeth. Howling in pain, he fled, leaving the woman free

to marry for the third -- and last -- time. I'm sure there's a moral to be found here, but I don't wish to speculate as to what it could be.

There was plenty to see, do, and buy before the penis parade: lineups quickly formed at a stall selling handmade phallus-shaped suckers, and later a smaller crowd formed around the photo opportunity afforded by the sight of a four-year-old boy unselfconsciously sucking on one of said suckers.

As I investigated genitalia-shaped chocolates and figurines composed in age- old intimate poses, a tiny elderly woman appeared beside me and cheerfully proclaimed, "Condom? AIDS!" She thrust an information packet at me; it contained a few pamphlets about AIDS and a condom whose wrapper read "Super Wrinkle 1000."

I wandered a little further, and promptly caught the eye of an energetic old priest encouraging shy women to climb onto a giant wooden penis seesaw. I needed very little coaxing for such a great photo-op, but wondered if it was rather silly for me to pray for fertility while using birth control.

Behind the wooden penis ride, a handful of middle-aged Japanese men sat on a blue tarp, carving daikon (Japanese white radishes) into phalluses. A Western woman sat with them, respectfully learning the art of suggestive vegetable carving. There was a live band performance, interrupted only briefly by an elderly man whose rather raunchy dancing progressed into a grab at the guitarist's genitals.

In the off chance that some people might be feeling a little shy about the sexually explicit nature of the festival, the PA system was used now and then to issue cheerful announcements of "Sex is wonderful! People should have more sex and make more babies!" and "Remember, you're all here because your parents had sex!"

Finally it was time for the parade: the procession was headed by a family dressed in traditional Edo-era kimonos and followed by three groups, each bearing a portable shrine containing a large penis statue. The largest of the three, the huge hot pink penis, was proudly carried by a team of Japanese drag queens.

I'm sure the parade was nothing new for long-term residents, but I wonder how it must have appeared to someone new to the neighbourhood, out for a pleasant walk on a Sunday afternoon when suddenly confronted with the sight of a huge pink phallus bobbing towards them...

The parade finished with the procession returning to the shrine ninety minutes later. The groups holding the penis-shrines began to bob them energetically in tune with a rhythmic chant, building up into such a frenzy that soon the whole scene seemed reminiscent of the sexual act itself.

Finally, the priests declared the parade a success, and the penis-shrines were reluctantly lowered to the ground. Kanamara-sama, the Honourable Iron Penis God, had been properly worshipped for another year.

Getting to Wakamiya Hachiman-gu Shrine: By bus: From JR Kawasaki Station, take bus 23 (bound for Daishi) and get off at Wakamiya Hachiman-gu Shrine. By train: From Keikyu Kawasaki Station, switch to the Daishi line and get off at Kawasaki Daishi Station (it's the third stop). The festival takes place in late March or early April; the dates change slightly each year, so call the shrine at 044-233-3060 to confirm. The shrine's address is Daishi Eki-mae 2-13-16, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki 210-0802>