Gion Festival -One of the Three Major Festivals in Japan-

Gion Matsuri (matsuri means festival), the festival of Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto is one of the three major festivals in Japan. The other two are Tenjin (Osaka, Tenmangu Shrine) and

Kanda (Tokyo, Kanda Myojin Shrine) festivals.

 

 

Gion Festival is held during the entire month of July (July 1st-July 31st) every summer.

It has over 1100 years of history, and many people from all over the world visit the festival every year to see the gorgeous floats.

 

You can check the schedule of the events of Gion festival from
KYOTO CITY OFFICIAL TRAVEL GUIDE.

Main events are Saki-matsuri (early festival) and Ato-matsuri (later festival) in which Yamaboko Junko (the parade of decorated festive floats) is conducted.

 

 

Saki Matsuri (early festival)

 

Saki Matsuri (early festival)

 

Hashibenkei Yama (The float of the famous tale of the powerful and undefeated monk-warrior Benkei, and the child prince Ushiwakamaru)

By Things to do in KYOTO

The Saki-matsuri (early festival) was conducted on July 17th this year, but festival-goers can still enjoy the Ato-matsuri (later festival) which will be held on July 24th. At the Ato-matsuri, the Hashibenkei float leads a van of 10 floats.

 

 

I visited Gion festival for the first time last year (2017) from July 15th-17th. The streets, which are usually very busy during the day, were temporarily closed to vehicle traffic for the festival. There were many food stands and many festival-goers, and the streets got extremely crowded. It reminded me of the countdown at Times Square in New York on New Year’s Eve. That’s how crowded it was.

 

I saw many events in the town.

 

 

There were Maiko with beautiful kimono participating in the festival. Even people living in Kyoto hardly ever see Maiko, so this was a rare experience.

 

 

Even after it got dark, I saw many people walking around the town.

 

 

On July 16th, as I was walking in the town, I saw some floats in the middle of town, being ready for the main parade for the next day.

 

It was very hard for anyone to walk through the town because there were long lines of people waiting to get on the floats. Although the floats were gorgeous and amazing, I couldn’t spend a lot of time watching them because I wanted to get out of the crowd and the heat.

 

There are many things that you can enjoy at Gion festival in Kyoto, such as gorgeous floats, beautiful traditional music and many events throughout the entire month of July. It is worth visiting!

 

T.F