Strange temple for people with hemorrhoids

Japan has some very unique customs that are... weird. They even have a shrine dedicated to people with hemorrhoids.

Japan is a strange country. They have a strong economy in the world, a rich cuisine, and a strange spiritual culture.

One of those oddities is the Kunigami Shrine on Honshu Island. It is a sacred shrine, but for people with... hemorrhoids.

Kunigami Shrine - the shrine for people with hemorrhoids.

If you have ever had hemorrhoids, you will understand the terrible feeling of having this disease. It can be summed up in 3 words: inconvenient, uncomfortable, and very painful.

The third feeling will reach its peak every time you sit on the toilet. In particular, hemorrhoids are relatively difficult to treat, which is why many people have to endure this persistent disease for many years.

Understanding the discomfort of hemorrhoids, the ancient Japanese Shintoists established the Kinigami Shrine to give people with hemorrhoids a place to pray.

Inside the temple is a giant stone egg called the holy egg, placed on a small fountain along with a stone statue of a chicken.

The holy egg, fountain and hen at Kunigami Shrine.

According to belief, people with hemorrhoids who come here must first... wash their buttocks in a nearby holy river.

After that, they need to pray sincerely while facing the holy egg, then eat a boiled egg nearby and the disease will automatically subside.

Nowadays, the ritual is shorter, just turning the butt to the holy egg and reciting the prayer.

It is not clear whether the patient was cured or not. What is known is that after the temple was abandoned in the 1980s, this belief is gradually being restored, as the rate of people with hemorrhoids in modern society is increasing.

However, nowadays, due to cultural factors, people skip the step of washing their buttocks, just stick their buttocks in the egg and bounce them 3 times, recite a magic spell and that's it.

Not only people with hemorrhoids, but also those who do not have the disease are welcomed here. It is believed that as long as you maintain your faith, you will never get this terrible disease.

According to the shrine's keeper - Osamu Hayakawa: "In the modern world we live in, washing private parts in public is unacceptable, but I believe this belief should still be preserved."

"Nowadays, the ritual is shorter, just turning your back to the holy egg and reciting the prayer."

And not only people with hemorrhoids, people who do not have the disease are also welcomed here. It is believed that as long as you maintain your faith, you will never suffer from this terrible disease again in your life.

Kunigami Shrine also holds an annual pheasant festival, called the Kisai Festival.

In addition, Kunigami Shrine also holds an annual hemorrhoid festival, called the Kisai Festival. The festival takes place like any other traditional Japanese festival, except that no chairs are prepared, because of the burning desire of hemorrhoid sufferers to never have to sit./.

According to Young Knowledge