Kanamara-Matsuri is April 1 in 2016.
 

The first Sunday in April ... April 3, 2016 ... is a really special Shinto festival ... and another great Pixie-like party, too! It's the ...


The following is quoted from "http://notesofnomads.com/kanamara-penis-festival-japan"

"The first Sunday in April marks the celebration of the Shinto fertility festival, the Kanamara Matsuri or the “Festival of the Steel Phallus.” Known colloquially as the “Penis Festival”, these festivities celebrate just that: the power of the humble penis. And it is an event that is gaining increasing popularity, especially among foreign visitors, each year.

The next Penis Festival will take place on Sunday, 3 April 2016.

So you’re probably wondering why the Japanese celebrate the “steel phallus.” Well, legend has it that sometime back in the Edo period (1603-1867), there was a sharp-toothed demon who fell in love with a beautiful woman. The woman, however, didn’t return the demon’s affection and decided to marry another man. Angering the demon, he inhabited the woman’s vagina before their wedding night and when they tried to consummate the marriage, the demon bit off the groom’s penis with his razor sharp teeth.

When the woman remarried, the jealous demon once again made his feelings clear by biting off her second husband’s penis. Deciding that enough was enough, the upset villagers concocted a plan to trick the demon. A local blacksmith forged a steel phallus and upon its insertion, the demon’s teeth were broken and he left the woman’s vagina for good.

Sometime thereafter the legend was commemorated by way of the Kanamara Matsuri and the enshrinement of the actual steel phallus at Kanayama Shrine, constructed to honor Kanayama Hikonokami and Kanayama Himenokami, the Shinto deities of childbirth and lower abdomen health.

The Kanayama Shrine then became renowned as a site for sex workers to pray for protection against STDs. Nowadays the shrine is said to aid fertility and is often visited by married couples hoping to start a family. The festival itself has also become popular with the gay, lesbian and transgender communities."

If you want to, search for Kanamara Matsuri and check out the images. Huge crowds with a major focus on the phallus. It's really a huge festival!!

By the way, there's also a VAGINA festival! It's called the Ososo Matsuri (Vagina Festival) in Japan and is held the second Sunday of March!

Hmmm ... the Vagina festival comes the second Sunday of March while the Penis festival comes the first Sunday of April.

Guess that answers that age old question ... "Which came first, the vagina or the penis?"