Must-See Magnificent Yamahoko Floats Known as the Moving Art Museum – Experience the Kyoto Atmosphere at “Gion Matsuri”

In the summer, one of the most important festivals in Kyoto is “Gion Matsuri”(祇園祭), which takes place in July. Throughout the entire month, the festival offers many highlights and attractions. Among them, the must-see event is a Yamahoko-Junko (山鉾巡行), where gorgeously decorated floats accompanied by the famous Gion Bayashi music parade through Kyoto’s district. ‘Why don’t you go to Kyoto City to experience the lively traditional festival?

“Gion Matsuri” has been a tradition for a long time in Japan called ‘Gion-san’, (祇園さん) which is a famous festival of Yasaka Jinja Shrine. It’s one of the 3 festivals along with the Aoi Festival(葵祭) and Jidai Matsuri (時代祭) in Kyoto. It seems that Gion Matsuri originated in 869 (Heian Period 794-1185) when a terrible pestilence spread across the entire land of Kyoto, the people of Kyoto attempted to appease them and pray for an end to the pestilence by erecting 66 spears (called Hoko). After that, there were times when the festival was canceled because of wars. However, it would always be revived and is now part of Kyoto’s history and culture. This scale gradually grew larger and became a lively festival.

The Yamahoko representing the festival is made of a traditional method without nails at all. The largest Yamaboko is about 25m high. In addition, please pay attention to the beautiful decorations. It makes use of breathtakingly beautiful embroidered fabric and decorative metal fittings, and it’s called a moving museum. Such the gorgeous Yamahoko Junko parade is held on July 17th and 24th with the sound of Gion Bayashi, (祇園囃子, Gion festive music) famous as Con-chiki-chin. The Yamahoko event which fascinated many people was designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Properties of Japan in 1979 and also registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. The festival, which has been going on for over 1,100 years, has many other attractive events. Be sure to visit the actual site and experience the beauty of the festival.