Gion Summer Festival is an annual celebration that lasts
for the whole month of July in Kyoto. It is considered one
of the largest and most famous festivals in Japan. The
summer festival is hosted by the Yasaka Shrine. The
main attraction is the grand procession of floats that
happens on July 17th called Yamaboko Junko. These
floats can reach up to 25 meters high and weight up to 12
tons. The route for the Yamaboko Junko is 3 kilometers
long. The Gion Festival can be traced backed to 869
when a plague hit the area and some attributed it to the
deity Gozu Tenno. It was then that the Emperor ordered
the citizens to pray to the deity Susanoo no Mikoto at
Yasaka Shrine. Gion Festival has been held annually
since then, but it is not a combination of festive
celebrations and religious rituals.
Even though it is called Gion Festival it does not actually
happen in that district. The celebrations, parade and
other activities happen in downtown Kyoto across the
river from the Geisha District. In 2014, the festival had
grown to the point that they decided to bring back a
second parade of floats on July 24, but is much fewer
and smaller than the main one. Three days before July
17th the streets at night become closed to traffic and the
festive evenings begin. On July 10 to 14 people can
watch the giant floats be built from scratch without the
use of nails. In the evening on the 17th a procession of
mikoshi (portable shrines) are carried on the shoulders of
the participants. The shrine’s deity is enshrined and
carried from Yasaka Shrine to Otabisho. Then on July
24th the mikoshi return back to Yasaka Shrine.
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