Visit Nara

Asuka’s Niimasu Shrine attracts many spectators on the first Sunday of February for its Onda Festival. This rice planting ceremony begins with prayers to the Shinto deities for a bountiful harvest and culminates with a vivid sex scene enacted by a goblin and a human woman—both roles played by men. Niimasu Shrine is also associated with fertility and many couples visit to pray for safe childbirth and healthy children. The shrine is known for its many rocks naturally formed in the likeness of male and female genitalia. The festival has grown popular over the years and attracts many people drawn to this shrine that has been in the same family for more than 27 generations—more than one thousand years.