🏮 Gion Matsuri Yamahoko Junko Sagi Mai Shinko Sai

祇園祭-山鉾巡行・鷺舞・神幸祭

Kyoto (Yasaka Shrine) · Every year on 17 July

FloatsTraditional performing artsSummer festival

306 days to go
Rooms around Kyoto fill up while the festival is on.

The Gion Festival in Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, is a July festival honoring the deity of Yasaka Shrine. The yamaboko (festival float) procession is an event that purifies the town of evil spirits and impurity and creates a path for the deity to pass; since 2014 it has been held in two parts, the Saki Matsuri (17th) and the Ato Matsuri (24th). The Ofunaboko and Takayama floats, which had once been withdrawn from the procession, also returned in 2014 and 2022 respectively. The main attractions are the yamaboko processions of the Saki Matsuri and Ato Matsuri, as well as the mikoshi togyo, in which a mikoshi (portable shrine) is carried through the streets. After the Saki Matsuri yamaboko procession, the Shinkosai is held to welcome the deity from Yasaka Shrine to the Otabisho, and the Kankosai is held during the Ato Matsuri; at intersections and in front of the shrine, the "sashiage" and "sashimawashi" maneuvers can be seen. On the 24th, during the Ato Matsuri, there is also the Hanagasa Junkō, in which nearly 1,000 people, led by a children's mikoshi and followed by the sagimai (heron dance), shishimai (lion dance), and hiki-guruma carrying geiko and maiko from each hanamachi, parade through the town to Gion bayashi music.

Getting there

Get off at Shijo Station on the Kyoto Municipal Subway Karasuma Line or Karasuma Station on the Hankyu Kyoto Line, then walk 5 minutes. The yamaboko procession can be viewed on Shijo-dori and other streets.