Honen-sai Fertility Festival

Warning: This post is not appropriate for all viewers! So I take no responsibility for your kiddos looking over your shoulder and seeing inappropriate images as you read this. ;)

I went to Tagata Shrine's Honen-sai fertility festival, which is also known among the foreigners here as the penis festival. I bought a pamphlet at the shrine to get a better understanding of what's going on, and actually found it quite informative. So I know many of you think it's weird and creepy that people go to a shrine to worship a penis every year... but you need to understand that it's a festival deeply rooted in history with many more important aspects than just the phallus. So read this with an open mind!

Shinto shrines are found all over Japan. They serve as houses for divine spirits as well as places for preserving the memory and practice of many aspects of Japanese culture. This particular shrine, Tagata Shrine, is famous for their fertility festival on March 15 of every year.

Tagata Shrine is estimated to be at least 1,500 years old. Located near the main shrine building is a smaller structure which houses a variety of natural and man-made objects, all with a phallic theme or representation. These objects are considered offerings to the deity. They have traditionally been loaned out to those individuals searching for spouses, needing diseases cured, or wishing for a child. When the desired result was produced, the objects were then returned to the shrine together with a new phallic symbol as a token of gratitude. This practice is a survival of ancient and widespread rituals designed to ensure agriculture as well as other kinds of human regeneration. These goals were promoted by a mythical union between a male and female and corresponds to fertility rituals worldwide, especially amongst Buddhist countries.

Because of the association with the penis, one gets the impression that the phallus is the object being worshiped. But it should be noted that the center of the shrine is not the phallus itself, but rather the worship of the earth as a powerful generative force. One of the most important features of the long history of the Tagata Honen-sai festival is its goal of ensuring a plentiful harvest each year.

Since newly-made objects are thought to possess more purity and vitality, each year a new wooden phallus is fashion from a single Japanese cypress tree. In the middle of winter, the tree is brought to the shrine for a solemn ritual of purification and dedication. Through the skill of a master craftsman using traditional tools and wearing ritually-pure clothing, this tree is then slowly carved into the wooden phallus that will, after the Honen-sai festival, reside in the shrine as a principal object of worship. The phallus is about 13 feet long and weighs about 620 pounds!

This is the basic underlying principle for the festival: to ensure agricultural fertility as well as human regeneration. So it's important to remember, the phallus is not a magical object in itself but rather a symbolic one evoking themes of fertility. Specially prepared foods and drinks are offered to the deity, and prayers are recited requesting a bountiful harvest as well as peace and security.

So if a new giant phallus is carved each year, where do the previous ones go? Apparently they are sold to private homes, inns, or restaurants. The new owner then makes an appropriate alter where the phallus is installed and visited with periodic rituals and offerings.

So now here are some pictures from the festival!

There were many penis-shaped foods at the festival - from chocolate/vanilla/strawberry covered bananas, to hot dogs, and even penis candy. I had the strawberry covered banana, and it was actually very tasty!

The 13-foot 620 pound giant phallus being carried throughout town in a parade.

There were several women in the parade carrying around smaller versions. They carried them on the sides near the crowd, so that people could easily touch them.

Free sake for everyone! I'm not exactly sure why this happened, but everyone in the crowd was able to get free sake.

Elodie and I definitely stood out in our bright colors. Since it was a fertility festival, and we are foreigners, I'm assuming that's why we were so popular...? I actually don't think I've ever had my picture taken by people in Japan (unlike China, where I felt like a celebrity). But at this festival, Elodie was definitely a hit - people constantly wanting to touch her and take her picture. I never found out if we were on the news or not, but this camera crew had us in film quite a while.

It was a fun day, and a good learning experience. Something that I'll always remember and an overall very unique Japanese experience.

Udon

Japanese udon noodles - white, thick, and soft wheat noodles. This noodle soup is usually served hot, but occasionally will be served cold during the summer months. The dark broth is made of dashi (soup stock which also forms the base for miso soup), soy sauce, and mirin (type of rice wine). You can top it with a variety of ingredients: green onion, tempura, fried egg, vegetables, tofu, etc. The specific flavor and toppings vary from region to region throughout Japan.

Udon is my favorite Japanese dish. It's healthy, filling, and flavorful. I know a lot of foreigners don't really care for Japanese soup dishes with a miso taste, but I love it! And not only does it taste good, but it's beautifully presented.

I just bought a frozen packet of Udon at the grocery store. We'll see if I can manage following the Japanese instructions (which have pictures), haha. Hopefully it tastes good!

Happy Belated Birthday, Joe!

I have been so caught up in writing about Paris, that I'm now behind on posts again. Happy belated birthday to my wonderful husband who turned 28 on March 16. Yikes, 2 more years until the big 3-0!!

He had a pretty low-key birthday this year. We stayed in and ordered Layer's burgers & fries for dinner. We discovered that they deliver to our apartment... how great is that!? I have a feeling we'll be doing this more often in the future.

Joe and his bacon cheeseburger.

i ♥ daddy

Make a wish!... I hope it was a good one. :)

Love you, Hubby!! Thanks for all you do to take care of Elodie and me. We couldn't ask for a better husband and father. Every year gets better and better, and still so many more opportunities and changes ahead of us. Anxious to see what this next year brings... Happy birthday!

Ichigo Daifuku

Ichigo Daifuku is a modern "wagashi" (Japanese confection) or type of Japanese sweet. It combines the traditional "daifuku" which means "great fortune," with a fresh strawberry. It's white outside is called mochi, which is pounded rice cake. It's filled with a sweet azuki bean paste.

You can only find the strawberry variation towards the end of winter and in early spring. And it just so happens to be strawberry season here right now, so you can find these cute little treats in the grocery store. Basically, they are "lucky strawberry rice cakes."

These were 180yen each, so about $2.25 per piece. I love the sweet mochi outside, but I'm not a huge fan of the red bean paste inside - although the fresh strawberry made it taste much better. Even though I don't particularly care for the red bean, I still find myself buying these treats all the time. Sometimes I scoop out the inside filling, and just eat the white outside. :)

Parmesan Cheese

Finally, the video of Elodie laughing! I've been wanting to post this video for a while, but got caught up with our trip and such. It was taken right before we went to Paris, so she was about 5 1/2 months old.

Toulouse & Carcassonne

We took a side trip from Paris down to southern France to visit Elodie and her family. Here is a picture of Elodie and Elodie. :)

Toulouse is the fourth largest city in France. With the headquarters of Airbus located there, Toulouse is the center of the European aerospace industry. Elodie said it's known as "the pink city" because all of the buildings are made of redish-pink brick. I loved all of the narrow streets and alleys throughout downtown, and I especially loved all of the shutters on the windows. Cute shops, cafes, and restaurants everywhere.

Square downtown Toulouse.

Street in downtown Toulouse.

Another street downtown.

LOVE all the shutters!

Beautiful church downtown.

They also took us to the city of Carcassonne, which is an ancient castle town. Inhabited from ancient times, this site has over 2500 years of history. The fortified city has two outer walls with towers to prevent attack. The castle also has a drawbridge over a ditch leading to a the central area.

The Child Family.

Outer castle wall.

Today, this city is a major tourist destination. There seems to be two main sections inside the complex. The first is filled with shops and restaurants, the other is the original part of the restored castle. It was really neat to see them both.

One of the courtyard areas inside the castle.

Joe and me inside the castle.

One of the streets inside.

Another street inside.

le Cassoulet de Castelnaudary

We ate at a really cute restaurant inside the castle. We tried the local dish, le Cassoulet de Castelnaudary - a stew made with meat and beans. It's a rich, slow-cooked casserole containing pork sausages, duck, and white haricot beans. It was very a hearty meal, and tasted fantastic!

Very fun trip! It was so nice to visit Elodie & her family and see where they live. Thank you Child family for having us - we had a wonderful time!!! We appreciate your generous hospitality. :) We miss you guys!

Paris: Au Revoir!

I'm sad to say this is my last post on Paris. We had such a wonderful trip, and are so thankful for Mike and Mimi not only letting us stay at their home, but also for showing us a great time!

So this is my fun post of all the random things that didn't fit in to any other post.

Starting with... Fauchon! I think this store was made for me. Not only is it PINK, but it's filled with delicious sweets. Definitely my kind of place!! I was hoping to buy a few pieces of their cute dishes, but they stopped selling them (maybe a future Christmas gift on ebay for me... wink wink Joe!). I had the best eclair of my life here - a caramel eclair with caramel icing & caramel filling...!!! They also have fantastic macaroons.


Up next... Angelina's! Hands down, the best hot chocolate I've ever had. It was way to sweet - and that's saying something, coming from me! But we both enjoyed every sip. We even bought a take-home liquid mixture to drink while at Mike & Mimi's, and a powder mixture to bring back to Nagoya with us. mmmm!

Lastly, we went to a really great antique market. Filled with furniture, clothes, knickknacks, dishes... everything you can possibly imagine at an antique market. I thought of my sister-in-law Lori the whole time (you would have loved it!!). I bought a couple of pink pitchers, and Joe bought a couple juice glasses. Very fun!


Oh yes, and I can't forget to show you my new incredibly cute chalkboard mug! LOVE this and can't wait to write messages on it. :) We loved Paris and hope to go back soon.

Paris: Chateau de Versailles

I can understand why Louis XIV decided to move out of the city to this extravagant palace, complete with gardens, lakes, stables, and guest houses. This is where Louis XIV, XV, and XVI lived before the revolution. From the crystal and hand-painted details to the gardens and fountains, it was surely a sight to see - and actually my favorite place around Paris.

The Palace of Versailles and its gardens form one of the most famous world heritage monuments. The old brick and stone chateau of Louis XIII was transformed and greatly enlarged by his son Louis XIV who installed the Court and Government here. The town was built around the Palace and includes churches, town houses, old squares, etc.

Prior to the French Revolution, the Chateau de Versailles estate covered 30 square miles - which is the present area of the city of Paris!! It was surrounded by a wall of 27 miles. Today, it represents just 3 square miles.

Because if it's huge size, there was so much to see. We spent an entire day here, and were still rushed to see everything. We took a little train around the complex to see the different buildings, because walking by foot would have taken too long.

The main gate.

Part of the front of the Chateau,

Back of the Chateau.

Gardens and The Grand Canal. The gardens cover an area of 57 acres with a perimeter of 3.5 miles. The construction lasted 11 years! I read that under Louis XIV reign, the Grand Canal was used as a miniature sea - with 9 ships, a vessel with 32 canons, and gondolas.

The Hall of Mirrors. This room is filled with gorgeous crystal chandeliers and numerous antique mirrors. The paintings on the ceiling illustrate events in the life of Louis XIV, from the time he began to reign in 1661, until the Peace of Nijmegen in 1678. The King would pass through the Hall of Mirrors every day on his way to the Chapel. It was also the passageway between the King's and Queen's apartments. The room was used for large receptions and royal weddings. It overlooks the gardens. So it's really the perfect room: beautiful and elegant inside, topped with a spectacular view of the estate.

The Queen's Apartment. It consists of four rooms, and is where the queen lived out her public life. The queen also had private rooms overlooking the courtyards, which allowed her more privacy.

The King's Apartment was just as impressive. It was remodeled several times, but received its final decoration in 1681. The rooms are dedicated to the planets gravitating around Apollo, the god symbolizing the sun (which is Louis XIV's emblem) in Greek and Roman mythology.

I really wanted to see the mistresses apartments as well. But they were closed by the time we got to them. Too bad!

You can see the ancient figure of Apollo, the Sun God, all over the estate. The picture above shows the symbol in a clock.

The Grand Trianon palace was designed and built in 1687 for the purpose of being a recreational residence for Louis XIV and his family. It was used as a retreat at the far end of the park at Versailles; far away from the constraints of power and the crowd of courtiers. It could be reached by boat along the Grand Canal. It was constructed with pink marble... very cute! It consists of two main wings, joined together by a peristyle porch where you can see the beautiful gardens.

Outside of the Grand Trianon.

Porch connecting the left and right wings.
Notice the pretty pink marble. :)

And there was even pink furniture inside!
Pink walls, pink chairs, pink curtains... very cute!

This room above is known as the Cotelle Gallery. It's name comes from Jean Cotelle, who painted the Views of Versailles and Trianon, which decorate the walls. Stunning!

Now on to my favorite part of the Chateau de Versailles: Petit Trianon, also known as Marie-Antoinette's Estate.

The Petit Trianon was built in 1761, and given to Marie-Antoinette by Louis XVI in these terms, "Since you love flowers I am offering you a bouquet, it is the Petit Trianon." It stands in the middle of a "garden of plants."

I was told that the gardeners would change the color of the flowers in the potted plants daily, to match what Marie-Antoinette was wearing that day. You can see the pots in the picture above between the hedges. The Petit Trianon became her favorite place to stay, and I can certainly understand why! It was private, away from the main palace, and beautiful.

Mimi and I are standing on the classical-style Grand staircase.

Ending this post with a picture of a giant antique mirror in Marie-Antoinette's house (with us in the reflection). Oh how many things this mirror would have seen in the past... if only mirrors could talk!

I loved this place. Many more pictures on our shutterfly site!