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Kawasaki is known for its Daruma dolls - a symbol of luck - that stay standing and never falls. A doll is purchased in stalls around various shrines Kawasaki Daishi and the Asakusa district with no eyes. The buyer prays and makes a wish. When the wish comes true, he draws the eyes on the Daruma doll.
Also found all over Kawasaki are the beautiful Ume "Japanese apricot" flower that are most prolific during the "Ikegami Baien".
At Wakamiya Hachimangu Shrine, the Kanamara Matsuri or the Festival of the Steel Phallus held in the middle of April. It celebrates the overcoming of a demon that was said to have resided in the privates of a woman and had castrated two of her lovers already. The local blacksmith fashioned the steel phallus and it broke the demon's teeth. To commemorate this, the festival is filled with the image of the phallus from illustrations to candy, from carved vegetables to decorations, including cartoon characters with that part of his anatomy overemphasized with size. The whole thing is presided over by a priest, while the people engage in Shinto rituals. In the Edo period, courtesans prayed for good business and protection against diseases. Today it is used to promote AIDS awareness and safe sex.
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