Tourists who came from afar were apt to think that the Gion Festival consisted of only the parade of floats on the seventeenth of July. Many also came to Hiezan on the night of the sixteenth. But the real ceremonies of Gion Festival continued all through July. In the various districts in Kyoto, each of which had its own Gion float, the festival bands began to perform and the amulet rituals commenced on the first of July…
Yasunari Kawabata, The Old Capital,
Last night Mewby and I wandered through the festival crowds, down Shijo towards the warren of streets that lie west of Karasuma. One of the main pleasures of the festival is simply wandering about and watching all the people promenading in their summer finery. Mewby, herself looked lovely last night in her purple yukata.
The story of the Gion Festival goes back to Heian times during a time of plague. The Emperor of the time ordered special prayers to be said at Yasaka Shrine and halberds were set up in the city as protective amulets against the evil of the disease. Over time this ritual was repeated and the halberds became increasingly stylized and elaborate, eventually transforming into the festival floats or hoko, we see today… [Read more…]