The tree is called 下来伝の大杉 (Shimoraiden no Oosugi) the great cedar of Shimo-Raiden while the shrine is called ほだれ大神 (Hodare Daijin) meaning the great deity of ripened grain.
They are located deep in the rural area of Nagaoka of Niigata prefecture. I couldn’t find it in Google maps but I found it in Yahoo Japan maps. Using the location I found the shrine in google street view: https://maps.app.goo.gl/TimkB9AeUC1VfuhF9?g_st=ic
Two things are worth noting but not shown in this photo are:
– The cedar tree is 31m tall and has a circumference of 8.3m . It is estimated that its age is at least 800 years.
– The shrine, despite its small size, is actually quite famous because inside it houses a phallic statue as the manifestation of the hodare deity. While the word Hodare has the original meaning: “the ripening of rice plants” , by extension it also means fertility and having lots of descendants. And the phallic symbol naturally came after that.
On the second Sunday of March, a there is the Hodare Festival ほだれ祭, where a huge Hodare — a 2.2-meter tall phallic statue that weighs approximately 600kg — is put on a mikoshi (portable shrine) and carried down the street by the local men for parades around the small village, Shimoraiden, next to the shrine. It lasts from 11am to around 2pm. But the festivities continue after that.
Women touch the shrine as it passes in hopes it will help their fertility and a lucky few are allowed to straddle it — although they must pre-register, be women married for less than a year, and be hoping for a baby. Check this video from 2019: https://youtu.be/P8LpD6adkgY
*First get to Nagaoka, the quickest way is by Shinkansen. From the East Exit of Nagaoka Station, take bus Line 4 and get off in front of Tochio Garage (40 minutes), then take the Kuriyamazawa Line to Shimoraiden (15 minutes).*
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Did some research.
The tree is called 下来伝の大杉 (Shimoraiden no Oosugi) the great cedar of Shimo-Raiden while the shrine is called ほだれ大神 (Hodare Daijin) meaning the great deity of ripened grain.
They are located deep in the rural area of Nagaoka of Niigata prefecture. I couldn’t find it in Google maps but I found it in Yahoo Japan maps. Using the location I found the shrine in google street view:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/TimkB9AeUC1VfuhF9?g_st=ic
Two things are worth noting but not shown in this photo are:
– The cedar tree is 31m tall and has a circumference of 8.3m . It is estimated that its age is at least 800 years.
– The shrine, despite its small size, is actually quite famous because inside it houses a phallic statue as the manifestation of the hodare deity. While the word Hodare has the original meaning: “the ripening of rice plants” , by extension it also means fertility and having lots of descendants. And the phallic symbol naturally came after that.
On the second Sunday of March, a there is the Hodare Festival ほだれ祭, where a huge Hodare — a 2.2-meter tall phallic statue that weighs approximately 600kg — is put on a mikoshi (portable shrine) and carried down the street by the local men for parades around the small village, Shimoraiden, next to the shrine. It lasts from 11am to around 2pm. But the festivities continue after that.
Women touch the shrine as it passes in hopes it will help their fertility and a lucky few are allowed to straddle it — although they must pre-register, be women married for less than a year, and be hoping for a baby. Check this video from 2019: https://youtu.be/P8LpD6adkgY
This festival even gets introduced in an English documet from the national government: https://www.mlit.go.jp/tagengo-db/common/001564802.pdf
*Note about access:*
*First get to Nagaoka, the quickest way is by Shinkansen. From the East Exit of Nagaoka Station, take bus Line 4 and get off in front of Tochio Garage (40 minutes), then take the Kuriyamazawa Line to Shimoraiden (15 minutes).*
Anybody who wants to join the festival in 2025 can check this: https://en.japantravel.com/niigata/nagaoka-hodare-festival/56981