Hônen-matsuri 豊年祭り

“festival for fertility” | “thanksgiving”

The light-hearted “Tageta shrine honen festival” in which the dankon, large wooden phalli, are carried in a procession from Kumano-jinja shrine to Tagata-jinja shrine, is held to pray for both procreation and bountiful harvests. The giant phallus – which is an offering and not a deity or a object of worship – is 2,50 m long and weighs about 400 kg, is called “O-owasegata“. Tagata shrine – located north of Nagoya City – is dedicated to Tamahime-no-mikoto, daughter of a feudal lord and Mitoshi-no-kami, a deity of harvest.