Tagata-jinja
I'm only in Aichi for a month so I don't have much time for sightseeing. However, I did manage to make time to visit Tagata-jinja, more commonly known as the penis shrine.
The main object of worship is the 13-foot, 620-pound phallus, which is carved from a single cypress tree. On March 15th it's paraded through the town in the Honen Matsuri (a festival which always seems to make the news), and housed at the shrine for one year, after which it is sold to a local business or private party and replaced by a newly-carved phallus.
Other offerings left by grateful worshippers
From the English pamphlet: "In processions of the past, the phallus was formerly attached to a straw effigy of a warrior, but this practice was later deemed too unrefined and so was stopped."
Images of animals safely transporting the phallus to the shrine
A depiction of tanuki performing the procession
Shinto shrines usually have a bell attached to the ceiling which worshippers ring to attract the attention of the shrine's spirits.
You can buy good luck charms dedicated to specific goals at just about any shrine, from protecting you from illnesss or car accidents to helping you find love or pass a test. Tagata-jinja certainly had all these. Their unique health-protection charm (pictured on the right, next to a traditional charm) leaves little room to wonder what kind of illnesses it might protect you from.
The sign next to this mini-shrine has a haiku which says:
玉さすり
賽銭いれて
珍となる
Rub the balls
make a monetary offering
something strange will happen
Except the "something strange" can be read as "chin", which means dick.
There's also a larger sign announcing the sub-shrine's name as 珍宝窟 - The Chinpo Grotto. The kanji mean "rare treasure" but read as "chinpo", which also means dick. According to the sign, you rub the right ball to wish for the safety and well-being of your family, prosperity of your business, and wealth; and the left ball for success in romance, safety in the bearing of your treasured children, and marital harmony.
rocks.
The main object of worship is the 13-foot, 620-pound phallus, which is carved from a single cypress tree. On March 15th it's paraded through the town in the Honen Matsuri (a festival which always seems to make the news), and housed at the shrine for one year, after which it is sold to a local business or private party and replaced by a newly-carved phallus.
Other offerings left by grateful worshippers
From the English pamphlet: "In processions of the past, the phallus was formerly attached to a straw effigy of a warrior, but this practice was later deemed too unrefined and so was stopped."
Images of animals safely transporting the phallus to the shrine
A depiction of tanuki performing the procession
Shinto shrines usually have a bell attached to the ceiling which worshippers ring to attract the attention of the shrine's spirits.
You can buy good luck charms dedicated to specific goals at just about any shrine, from protecting you from illnesss or car accidents to helping you find love or pass a test. Tagata-jinja certainly had all these. Their unique health-protection charm (pictured on the right, next to a traditional charm) leaves little room to wonder what kind of illnesses it might protect you from.
The sign next to this mini-shrine has a haiku which says:
玉さすり
賽銭いれて
珍となる
Rub the balls
make a monetary offering
something strange will happen
Except the "something strange" can be read as "chin", which means dick.
There's also a larger sign announcing the sub-shrine's name as 珍宝窟 - The Chinpo Grotto. The kanji mean "rare treasure" but read as "chinpo", which also means dick. According to the sign, you rub the right ball to wish for the safety and well-being of your family, prosperity of your business, and wealth; and the left ball for success in romance, safety in the bearing of your treasured children, and marital harmony.
rocks.