Combining spiritual practices to benefit all beings with history, magic, myths, and legend, it’s challenging to be cooler than a committed yamabushi. Did you know that the Gion Matsuri and yamabushi share connections dating back centuries? And that dozens of yamabushi...
One of numerous Gion Festival iconic events: the spectacular Ato Matsuri floats procession on July 24. The spectacular Ato Matsuri floats procession, an iconic part of the Gion Festival. [/caption]Dating to 869 C.E., Kyoto’s Gion Matsuri shines as a beacon of more...
Gion Festival fans around the world are wondering: will there be a Gion Matsuri 2022? What kind of shape will it take? We won’t know until the Gion Matsuri Yamaboko Rengokai (Gion Festival Floats Association) makes an official announcement to the press, probably...
The Yasaka Jinja is usually buzzing with visitors during the Gion Festival, but not in 2021. Image courtesy Jorie Johnson. No doubt the Gion Festival community and Kyoto authorities felt heartbroken to scale back the Gion Festival 2021 due to covid. Of course, this...
KYOTO––The 2021 Gion Festival will again be held on a much smaller scale than usual, same as 2020. Once more this is due to the covid virus and concerns about it spreading in public gatherings. The highlights of the annual festival are the processions of the gigantic...