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The Gion Festival
Kyoto's most historical and energetic festival
July is the month of one of the largest and most historical festivals of Japan: Gion Festival. Literally from the 1st of July to end of the month, traditional rituals and events in this massive festival are held almost every day. Join the Gion Festival and experience the wonder of Japan through this magnificent festival with more than 1,000 years of history.
History
The Gion Festival is an annual festival dedicated to the deity of Yasaka Shrine. Throughout history, Kyoto has suffered many times from all kinds of bad omens including epidemics, floods, fires, and earthquakes. To keep the bad omens away and the good spirits strong and content, special protective or goryo-e festivals have been held in Kyoto since ancient times.
The origin of the festival dates back to 869, the early Heian period (794-1185) as one of Japan's oldest goryo-e festivals to stop a series of devastating plagues. In desperation, the reigning emperor decreed that special prayers be said at Yasaka Shrine, one of Kyoto's oldest and most important goryo shrines. The festival became a yearly event starting around 970 and, except for brief interruptions, it has continued ever since.
Photos by Digital na Kaji-ya
Though the festival began as a religious purification ritual, by the end of the Kamakura period (1185-1333) it had also become a way for craft guilds and merchant families to compete in showing off their wealth and taste. Large floats, musicians, dances, comic plays, and artistic treasures were all part of the celebrations at the close of the 10th century.
As the floats became increasingly elaborate and heavier, large wheels were added so that the floats could be rolled. In the 14th century, the floats acquired a second story for musicians and page boys. From the late 16th century onwards, as a result of the growing prosperity of Kyoto's merchants, artworks from China, Persia, and even Europe found their way along the Silk Road to the capital.
The Yama & Hoko floats
There are two kinds of floats: yama and hoko. There are 32 floats in the procession: 23 yama floats and 9 hoko floats. Yama are smaller floats (weight about 1.5 tons, about 6 meters high) and carried by people on their shoulders. The yama floats depict scenes from Chinese and Japanese history and mythology and often bear pine trees, shrines, and mannequins.
Hoko are massive 2-storied floats (weight about 5-12 tons, about 25 meters high) on large wooden wheels and pulled by people. Unlike the yama, the roofed hoko have long, mast-like poles ending in an identifying ornament. One float requires at least 12 or 13 people and large ones have 50 people, and still, it is very tough and tiring work to pull the massive floats in the city without break under the severe summer sun.
Photos by Digital na Kaji-ya
For tourists and citizens alike a big part of the Gion Festival is still connected with the elaborate floats that have made this festival so famous. In the 15th century, when Kyoto's kimono merchants' fortunes grew, they began to compete against each other to see who could build the biggest and most beautiful floats.
During the Edo period (1600-1868) and early Meiji period (1868-1912), the floats and the city of Kyoto were badly damaged by fire on several occasions. However, each time the citizens worked hard to rebuild everything and the festival continued to grow in popularity and fame. For this reason the floats are also called ''moving museums''.
Interview with Shaheed Rupani
A Volunteer: One of the leaders of the Yama Hoko Procession
If you have a chance to watch the Grand Procession on the 17th, you will notice there are some non-Japanese people pulling floats. One of them is Mr. Shaheed Rupani, from Canada, who will participate in the Yama Hoko Procession for his 9th year. KVG interviewed him for a different perspective on the festival.
KVG: How did your first encounter with Kyoto happen? And what was your impression of this city?
Shaheed: I came to Japan more than 10 years ago. I finished university and I didn't want to study any more nor was I ready to work yet. So I decided to travel and chose Asia because I had been interested in Asia for a long time, especially in Ninja since I was a child. So I went to a travel agent and told them I wanted to go to Japan. The staff asked, ''Where?'' but I had no idea. So we looked at the guidebook together and found that Kyoto was the most traditional city in Japan. And of course, I expected to see Ninja, Samurai and all other typical Japanese icons upon my arrival. I know my image of Japan was completely wrong but I knew nothing then!
To be honest, my first impression of Kyoto was that the city was ''old''. And that it was very expensive and unbelievably hot as I came in August. Also I experienced culture shock and missed my family. I knew only two Japanese words: ''Sayonara (Good bye)'' and ''Arigato (Thank you)''. I didn't even try to learn Japanese as I believed I would go home after one year. To be honest, it was hard at first, however, as you get to know the city you can't stop finding interesting things about it. When my first year finished, I felt like staying one more year, and it continued until today. I think what made me to stay this long was Kyoto's uniqueness.
KVG: Why did you decide to join the Gion Festival as a volunteer?
Shaheed:My first participation in the Gion Festival was my third year living in Kyoto. At that time I had already fallen in love with the city. I thought it would be chance to be a part of the history of Kyoto. The first time I joined the festival proceedings, I was so excited. I pulled the Tsuki-hoko. After the procession finished, I was exhausted and I said to myself, ''I don't want to do this again!'' But after a while I started to feel I wanted to try it again because I just wanted to continue to be a part of in the rich history of this event.
KVG: From a foreigner's view, what do you feel the Gion Festival means to the Kyoto people and what do you think foreign tourists will think of the festival?
Shaheed: As a foreigner, I think the Gion Festival is quite fascinating and amazing because it has continued for such a long time. I also realize its importance as it was initially started to help the people of Japan protect themselves against a major plague. As for the people of Kyoto, I would say the Gion Festival is becoming less of a spiritual event and more of a social one. It is a time that bonds people together through festivity and lets them open their hearts to the rest of the world. I think tourists will be amazed by the floats and the way that they are transported through the streets of Kyoto. If they were out on a Yoi-yama night they would fall in love with Kyoto's brilliance.
KVG: What is the toughest part of pulling a float? And what is the most important/difficult thing for you to be a leader of the volunteer group of foreigners?
Shaheed: For me participating in this festival is truly an honor and it is my way of saying thank you to Kyoto for all that it has entrusted me. Every year we are given a different float. There is no practice run. Every float has its own style, wheel men, and special calls. It is a collaboration of teamwork and camaraderie mixed with having an open mind and a pure heart that makes our team successful every year.
We don't practice before the day of procession. We have just one orientation two weeks before the procession and that's it. But I always try to help the other foreign volunteers understand the meaning of the festival and for that purpose I organize a special lecture for foreign volunteers in English. The most important thing that I want them to know is how lucky they are to be a part of the festival. Another point is that this is not our festival and that we are just volunteers in it. We enter it in the spirit of the event, with a pure heart. I myself took time to learn those things. No one taught me but I sensed these important points through my experience of repeatedly participating in the festival. Finally, to make this special occasion as a success, all the volunteers need to trust in the team, especially in the team leader who is the key to the entire process.
To pull the float as a foreigner is really an honor. We are not nationals of this country but are given the opportunity to participate in this festival. Physically, pulling a 12-ton float carrying 20 or more people around the streets of Kyoto in the middle of summer without any breaks is quite grueling. But once we fulfill our task, we all feel such a sense of accomplishment that we get all of our expended energy back from Kyoto. And in my opinion, I think the toughest thing is being accepted by the people of Kyoto.
In my third time to join the festival, the group organizing the volunteer members gave me the role as a leader of Tsuki-boko, one of the largest floats. I was really excited and honored. About a month before the festival, there was a meeting. People from the volunteer group and actual float association people, in other words the owners of the floats, met each other. What happened at that time was that the float owners wouldn't even look me in the eye. I was so sad. When they needed to tell me something, they didn't talk to me but the sub-leader, Japanese person next to me. They knew I spoke Japanese but I guess they still felt I shouldn't be a member of the festival. At that time I really recognized that I was an outsider. But no matter what, I didn't give up. I wouldn't give up!
After the festival, the men who wouldn't look at me in the meeting came to me, shook my hand and said, ''Anytime you want to join the festival and pull the Tsuki-boko, you are more than welcome to''. I think what made their mind change was my dedication. They saw my team was really really serious. They realized how serious we were and they knew we appreciated the festival.
KVG: What do you expect from foreign volunteer members to feel/experience by taking part in the festival?
Shaheed:For short term residents in Japan, I would think that they'd feel a sense of pride to be able to part of the Gion Festival. It would be a memory they'd never forget. For long term residents in Japan, I would hope they would understand the beauty and intricacies of the Gion Festival. But regardless of what they felt, I would expect all the members to become Gion Matsuri HIKITE during their volunteer duties as participants of the Gion Festival. What I mean is that I would expect them to become one with all of the other participants. They wouldn't be participating as representatives of their countries. They would just purely be a part of the festival.
*This year, 23 foreigners from 14 different countries will join the festival. Shaheed is in charge of the 33 volunteers pulling the Kita Kannon Yama this year.
Gion Matsuri Event Calendar
1-5th: Kippu-iri at each float association
Kippu-iri is the first ritual of the festival. At each float association, people enshrine a symbol of the deity and start meeting.
1st: Naginata-hoko Osendo
From 10:00 at Yasaka Shrine, the Chigo special boy who plays a sacred role on the Naginata-hoko visits Yasaka Shrine and prays for the festival's safety.
10th: Omukae Chochin Welcoming Lanterns
Men wearing formal kimono and carrying long bamboo poles from which lanterns are suspended, depart from Yasaka Shrine at 17:00 and head west along Shijo to Kawaramachi. This is to welcome mikoshi portable shrines carried out of Yasaka Shrine.
10th-14th: Hoko and Yama Construction
On these three days, the festival's 32 floats are assembled. No nails are used just straw ropes. This is a great opportunity for getting up close to the floats.
10th: Mikoshi Purification
During the festival, the deities of Yasaka Shrine reside in a temporary shrine called the Otabisho. Before moving the deities on the mikoshi portable shrines, the mikoshi are purified with water from the Kamo River. The mikoshi depart from Yasaka Shrine at 19:00 and arrive at the bridge at 20:00.
12th-13th: Hoko & Yama Trial Pulling
The people of each respective float neighborhood try pulling the newly constructed floats with Gion bayashi music to ensure that they are ready for the parade route on the 17th.
14th-16th: Yoi-yama
On the three nights before the grand procession, the festival atmosphere reaches its peak. The streets west of Karasuma and south of Oike are crowded with people, many in traditional dress. Gion bayashi music fills the air, and many stalls are set up along the colorfully decorated streets.
14th-16th: Folding Screen Display
The old textile merchant homes and businesses on Shinmachi and Muromachi open up the front parts of their homes and shops, allowing the public a first-hand look at their valuable folding screens and other treasures.
15th: Traditional Theater Performance Dedication
From 15:00 to 18:00, traditional Japanese theater performances (kabuki, biwa lute, harp, kyogen, dance, etc.) will be performed on the stage in the center of Yasaka Shrine.
16th: Tea Ceremony Dedication
From 9:00 at Yasaka Shrine, formal tea ceremony will be performed by the Omote Senke School.
16th: Iwami Kagura
From 19:00 at Yasaka Shrine, ancient court dance called Iwami Kagura will be performed to the music of flute and bells. It represents Japan's mythology.
17th: Yama Boko Grand Procession
At 9:00, the main Naginata-boko starts moving. When it reaches Fuyacho, the chigo sacred child on the float cuts the sacred rope and the parade begins.
17th: Shinko Festival
The shrine deities that preside over the festival and certain sacred treasures are transported in three special mikoshi (portable shrine) to the otabisho at 18:00 Teramachi, south side of Shijo). More than 1,000 men join the procession and the venue will be full of energy.
17th-23rd: Mugon Mairi Shrine Visit
It is believed that wishes come true if people visit Yasaka Shrine for 7 nights while the deities are out for otabisho, but they have to avoid speaking with people on the way.
23rd: Tea Ceremony Dedication
Sencha tea ceremony will be conducted by a master of Sencha for the deity of Yasaka Shrine.
23rd: Biwa Lute Music Dedication
From 15:00 at Yasaka Shrine, traditional biwa Japanese lute music will be play for the deity.
24th: HanagasaFlower Hat Procession
At 10:00, about ten large umbrella floats attended by nearly 1,000 people depart from Yasaka Shrine. Various dances are performed as part of this event.
24th: Kanko Festival
From 17:00, people carry three mikoshi back from otabisho to Yasaka Shrine. When mikoshi arrive at the shrine, special prayers will be made to welcome the spirit of the deity home.
25th: Kyogen Performance
At 11:00, the Shigeyama Family will perform special kyogen (comical theatre) plays at Yasaka Shrine.
28th: Mikoshi Purification
As on the 10th, the mikoshi are again purified on Shijo Bridge at 20:00 before they are put back in the storage.
31st: Nagoshi SummerPurification
This event completes the one-month-long festival. The ceremony starts at 10:00 at Yasaka Shrine. A huge chinowa wreath circle made of long green rushes is set up. Passing through the circle of the wreath is said to purify the spirit and ward off illness in the coming year.
Yama Hoko Grand Procession
The most spectacle event of the festival is, without doubt, the Yama Hoko Grand Parade on the 17th. The procession consists of colorful yama and hoko floats through downtown Kyoto. The floats are pulled through the streets by teams of men dressed in traditional costumes.
Large floats carry musicians. The floats are decorated with tapestries or fabrics from Nishijin, Kyoto's world famous hand-woven textile production district. Also many of them were imported from India, Belgium, Persia, Turkey and other countries in the 15th century via the Silk Road.
The most interesting thing to see during the procession is the turns of the big floats called tsuji-mawashi which take place in big intersections (Kawaramachi-Shijo, Kawaramachi-Oike and Oike-Shinmachi). Men pulling the floats chant loudly, ''yoi, yoi, yoi to sei'' accompanied with traditional Japanese music played by people who are on the floats.
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