A penis festival can attract bold tourists who seek to tune into their sensual side. Japanese organizers have been hosting the annual Kanamara Mitsuri, also known as the Festival of the Steel Phallus. It’s been a longstanding tradition established in 1969 for adults to express their cheeky fetishism.
The story goes that the Kanamara Matsuri festival took place to visually represent a demon who took revenge on a woman that rejected his moves. Rumor has it that the creature began living in the woman’s vagina and would bite down hard on anything that entered as a way to prevent procreation.
Then, the woman hired a blacksmith to create a steel member that would defeat the demon by breaking its teeth and saving her fertility. The metallic dildo is stored in a temple in Kawasaki and will be touring at this year’s festival.
Although it’s done in the spirit of some lighthearted fun, it’s not always smooth sailing for the festival organizers who are stuck having to deal with an unofficial giant member mascot that got mistaken for the real thing. An attendee was drawing the wrong kind of attention with an over-the-top costume featuring “excessive details.”
The outfit builds on a children’s cartoon character named Gachapin with the sorrow eyes, a single tooth and a striped chest. The problem comes from the crotch area that looks too realistic and lifelike for the attendees. The color and texture of the penis gave people shivers with a striking resemblance to a genuine penis.
Festival organizers cleared up the confusion with a public announcement. Even though the attire was a showstopper among guests, the mascot isn’t an official representative of the event.
They said: “As of March 2023, there are no official mascot characters for our Kanamara Festival. We do not officially recognize the costumed mascot called Gachachin, which is being treated as an official mascot on the internet, in any way whatsoever.”