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Get On! It is the Gion Festival!

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Geiko and Maiko are the illustrious dwellers of the Gion District, whom the festival is named after. A couple of floats carry groups of geiko who dance and sing to the public in this event.
Yasaka Shrine (Gion Shrine)
Yasaka Shrine, formerly known as Gion Shrine

For lots of people of Japan, the month of July means Gion Matsuri – the largest and most popular festival of Kyoto. Centered around Yasaka Shrine (formerly known as Gion Shrine), the Gion Matsuri has roots dating back to 869 when the people of Kyoto held the festival to pray for respite from a plague that had befallen the city. Today, the festival lasts for the entire month of July but it is the Yamaboko Junko Parade, on the 17th and 24th, which provides the focal points. The word Yamaboko refers to the two types of floats used in the procession: the 22 yama and 10 hoko totalling 32. One of the main reasons the Gion Matsuri is so impressive is the enormity of the hoko, which are up to 25 meters tall, weigh up to 12 tons, and are pulled on wheels as tall as a 6ft man. Both yama and hoko are elaborately decorated and represent unique themes.

Yamaboko Float
The parade held in Kyoto in the 1920s

By tradition, the Naginata Boko (shown above in modern version on the left and a 1920s vintage photo on the right) is the first float in the procession on July 17th. Therefore, it’s featured in every form of Japanese mass media, and is easily the best-known float nationwide. It’s instantly recognisable by the naginata halberd sword on the top of its shingi central pole. Legendary swordsmith Sanjo Munechika crafted the original halberd sword in the 10th century. Legend holds that it possesses mystical and healing properties. Munechika and his magical swordmaking are the subject of the noh play Kokiji.

Chigo Boy
On the Naginata Boko is the chigo, a young boy in Shinto robes and crowned with a golden phoenix, chosen from among the Kyoto merchant families as the deity's sacred page. After weeks of special purification ceremonies, during which he lives isolated from contaminating influences, he is carried onto the float, as he is not permitted to touch the ground. The boy must cut a sacred rope (shimenawa) with a single stroke to begin the festival.
Geisha with hanagasa
A group of Geisha wearing the Hanagasa hat are carried in one of the floats, where they perform the Suzume Dance (the Flower Hat Procession).
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Everybody has a role to play, in this case, an instrument to play in the festival
Heron Head
A group of young girls perform the Heron Dance of Sagi Odori on 10th July, wearing a heron head hat and emulating the movements of herons.
The handheld bamboo firework usually takes place on the 3rd Friday of July.

Yasunari Kawabata – The Old Capital

The festival serves as an important setting in Yasunari Kawabata’s novel, “The Old Capital” in which he describes Gion, along with the Festival of Ages and the Aoi Festival, the ‘three great festivals’ of the old capital.

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