Remember the phallic ceremony I mentioned a while back? Well, it looks like Japan also has a religious monument dedicated to women, specifically to their breasts. The landmark in question is the Karube Shrine and it is devoted to all matters related to the boobies!

The shrine in question is located in Soja City, Okayama Prefecture and it revolves around a goddess of breasts (Chichigamisama).

At this point, people would wonder about the appearance of such a goddess. Would she look like alluring like Aphrodite or would she be more symbolic and carry around a sack of ... chesty material? I couldn't find a pictorial depiction of the goddess; in fact, I wonder if it would be somewhat offensive to have such a picture in the first place.

Coming back to the breast shrine, its purpose is definitely to cover all boobie matters. Therefore, women from all over would drop by to pray for cures and remedies. Apparently this could range from breastfeeding problems to cancer cures. Of course, there were also somewhat trivial – well, not to the woman in question I suppose – wishes for bigger assets.

[Photo Source: Quirky Japan]

You must be wondering now – what does the inside of this temple look like? Are there fake boobies all over the wall? That would be a good guess. Apparently, people write their wishes on plaques containing fake breasts and hang them on the walls. Therefore, you get boobie style wall-to-wall décor.  

The shrine itself is rather old and dates back to 17th century. It seems like the original source of worship might have been a sacred tree in the complex. Later on, as the tree died away, people associated the shrine with breast-wish granting.