Kyoto’s Gion Matsuri fills streets with ornate yamahoko floats
Twenty-three elaborately decorated floats rolled through central Kyoto as spectators applauded sacred rites, traditional music and dramatic turns.
- Twenty-three ornate "yamahoko" floats paraded through the streets of Kyoto for the Gion Matsuri festival.
- The procession featured traditional music, elaborate decorations, and a dramatic turning maneuver called the "tsuji-mawashi".
- The festival, one of Japan's most famous, began with a sacred child cutting a ceremonial rope to start the parade.
- A second procession, the Ato Matsuri, with 11 different floats, is scheduled to take place on July 24.
Twenty-three elaborately decorated yamahoko floats rolled through Kyoto on Friday (July 17), bringing the streets of the western Japanese city alive with colourful textiles, embroidery and the distinctive “konchiki-chin” sound of traditional festival music.
The procession began at about 9am, led by the Naginatahoko float.
Crowds lining the route cheered as the festival’s sacred child, regarded as a messenger of the divine, cut the shimenawa rope stretched across the road.
Spectators also applauded as the enormous floats executed the tsuji-mawashi, a dramatic turning manoeuvre, at the Shijo-Kawaramachi intersection in central Kyoto.
The Gion Matsuri is a ritual festival of Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto’s Higashiyama Ward and is regarded as one of Japan’s three most famous festivals.
Its origins are believed to date to the Heian period from 794 to 1185, when residents erected floats and prayed for epidemics spreading through the city to subside.
Among those watching was a 53-year-old man from Mexico who was visiting with his family.
He praised the music and costumes and said he was impressed by the way Kyoto residents continued to preserve their traditions.
A 19-year-old university student from Kagawa Prefecture said: “It’s far more impressive in person than it appears on social media.”
The Ato Matsuri will be held on July 24, when 11 other floats will form another procession through the city.
