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...
Kyoto’s famous Gion Matsuri likely scaled down in 2021 Will there be a Gion Festival 2021? Gion Festival 2020 did take place, but because of coronavirus concerns it was held in a much smaller way than usual. In 2020, none of the Gion Festival’s famous 34...
Won’t happen in Gion Matsuri 2020: Usually thousands of men carry the portable miyoshi shrines shoulder to shoulder during the shinkōsai procession on July 17. A major portion of the Gion Festival 2020 is canceled. On April 20 the Gion Festival Floats...
I’m excited to be in the final stretch of writing my guidebook to the Gion Festival in English. My plan was to launch it at the Gion Festival 2020, in July. It looks like that may not happen. The Kyoto Shinbun newspaper just reported that there’s a good...
An Overview of Japan’s Most Famous Festival by Catherine Pawasarat. Shining as the best-known festival in Japan, the Gion Festival takes place every year over the whole month of July. It’s a testimony to the community spirit of downtown Kyotoites that this...
Ancient Tradition Meets High Tech With an 1100-year history, the Gion Matsuri or Gion Festival is working with an unusually long-term perspective. Seven generations sounds like a stepping stone by comparison! I first heard the Ōfune Boko hayashi music troupe play in...