Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Phallic Hokora

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Hokora are small roadside shrines found all over Japan.

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Often the doors are closed, but sometimes they are open and one can see the shintai which is usually a stone, sometimes a small statue.

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This one I found in a village in southern Okayama is obviously a small fertility shrine.

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They were much more common in earlier days, though one can still find them in the countryside.

Each carving would have been made by a local person to ask the kami for a baby.

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