*Ø* Blogmanac July 18 | Gion Matsuri, Japan
Gion Matsuri, Kyôto, Japan (the entire month of July)
Heralding the heat of summer comes an ancient Japanese festival. Gion Matsuri is an annual celebration centred around Yasaka Jinja (Gion is an old name of this shrine), and it is one of the three biggest local festivals in Japan. It is held over one month from the Kippu-iri ritual on July 1, through the Nagoshi ritual on the 31st, with the procession of floats on July 17 being the climax and the most famous event of the festival. However, a colorful variety of events takes place before and after. Gion Festival is more than a festival for the communities around Yasaka Jinja Shrine, and involves all of the city of Kyôto, the long-time capital of Japan.
In 869, the year of the birth of Yozei, the Emperor of Japan, the entire country was struck with a plague. So Emperor Seiwa, the 56th imperial ruler of the nation, dispatched his special messenger to Yasaka Jinja shrine to pray for the immediate end of the plague. The plan was to placate the divine wrath of Susanô, brother of the solar goddess Amaterasu. He was instructed to have his servants plant in the imperial garden, in offering to Gozu Tennô, a Shintô divinity (also called Gion; Heavenly King), 66 decorated halberds (hook, or broad-axes) representing the country's 66 provinces. This was to be done the seventh day of the sixth month of the lunar calendar. It was a strategy that succeeded. Or, so it is said.
A century later, Kyôto's inhabitants decided to express their gratitude to the Gion shrine's divinities by organizing in their honour a great festival. After the mid-15th century, each float was especially decorated by wealthy citizens with many imported materials or ornaments, so the procession’s popularity and brightness was established.
The highlight is the eve (Yoiyama) on the 16th followed by Yamaboko-junko – a procession of towering floats through the streets – on the 17th. Thirty-one colourful floats (yamaboko) form a long procession, pulled through the main streets of the city. The yamaboko are decorated with many time-honoured treasures and ornaments.
There are two kinds of floats, 23 of them being called Yama, and the other eight called Hoko. The Yama weigh more than a ton, are carried by long poles on the shoulders of about 16 men, and are tastefully decorated with figures from Japanese myth and legend. The Hoko weigh between four and six tons and are as tall as 24 metres high. They are set on four massive wooden wheels each with a diameter of three metres, each float being drawn through the streets by groups of men.
All floats are set up in advance by the people living in the ward to which each float belongs. On July 2, the order of the floats in the parade is determined by lots drawn by Kyôto's mayor. They are then positioned at different points until the procession starts on the morning of the 17th, when the mayor in an ancient costume confirms the order.
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Gion Matsuri, Kyôto, Japan (the entire month of July)
Heralding the heat of summer comes an ancient Japanese festival. Gion Matsuri is an annual celebration centred around Yasaka Jinja (Gion is an old name of this shrine), and it is one of the three biggest local festivals in Japan. It is held over one month from the Kippu-iri ritual on July 1, through the Nagoshi ritual on the 31st, with the procession of floats on July 17 being the climax and the most famous event of the festival. However, a colorful variety of events takes place before and after. Gion Festival is more than a festival for the communities around Yasaka Jinja Shrine, and involves all of the city of Kyôto, the long-time capital of Japan.
In 869, the year of the birth of Yozei, the Emperor of Japan, the entire country was struck with a plague. So Emperor Seiwa, the 56th imperial ruler of the nation, dispatched his special messenger to Yasaka Jinja shrine to pray for the immediate end of the plague. The plan was to placate the divine wrath of Susanô, brother of the solar goddess Amaterasu. He was instructed to have his servants plant in the imperial garden, in offering to Gozu Tennô, a Shintô divinity (also called Gion; Heavenly King), 66 decorated halberds (hook, or broad-axes) representing the country's 66 provinces. This was to be done the seventh day of the sixth month of the lunar calendar. It was a strategy that succeeded. Or, so it is said.
A century later, Kyôto's inhabitants decided to express their gratitude to the Gion shrine's divinities by organizing in their honour a great festival. After the mid-15th century, each float was especially decorated by wealthy citizens with many imported materials or ornaments, so the procession’s popularity and brightness was established.
The highlight is the eve (Yoiyama) on the 16th followed by Yamaboko-junko – a procession of towering floats through the streets – on the 17th. Thirty-one colourful floats (yamaboko) form a long procession, pulled through the main streets of the city. The yamaboko are decorated with many time-honoured treasures and ornaments.
There are two kinds of floats, 23 of them being called Yama, and the other eight called Hoko. The Yama weigh more than a ton, are carried by long poles on the shoulders of about 16 men, and are tastefully decorated with figures from Japanese myth and legend. The Hoko weigh between four and six tons and are as tall as 24 metres high. They are set on four massive wooden wheels each with a diameter of three metres, each float being drawn through the streets by groups of men.
All floats are set up in advance by the people living in the ward to which each float belongs. On July 2, the order of the floats in the parade is determined by lots drawn by Kyôto's mayor. They are then positioned at different points until the procession starts on the morning of the 17th, when the mayor in an ancient costume confirms the order.
More
And more
Yet more
Gion Matsuri photos
Pip Wilson's articles are available for your publication, on application. Further details
Receive similar items free each day with a free subscription to Wilson's Almanac ezine. Send a blank email
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