GION MATSURI FESTIVAL
It is said that the summer of Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan, begins with the Gion Matsuri. It's an annual festival of Yasaka Shrine which begins on July 1 and continues through July 31 every year. During this period, a series of Shinto rituals and various events take place at Yasaka Shrine and others locations in Kyoto-city. Yasaka Shrine was originally named Gion-sha and is the head shrine of the thousands of Gion-sha shrines in Japan. The Gion Matsuri is one of the three largest festivals in Kyoto, alongside the Aoi Matsuri and the Jidai Matsuri.
This festival originated as part of a purification ritual to appease the gods thought to cause fire, floods and earthquakes. In 869 AD, the people were suffering from plague and pestilence which was attributed to the rampaging deity Gozu Tennō . Emperor Seiwa ordered that the people pray to the god of the Yasaka Shrine, Susanoo-no-mikoto. Sixty-six stylized and decorated halberds, one for each province in old Japan, were prepared and erected at Shinsen-en, a garden, along with the portable shrines (mikoshi) from Yasaka Shrine. This practice was repeated wherever an outbreak occurred. In 970 AD, it was decreed an annual event and has since seldom been broken. Over time the increasingly powerful and influential merchant class made the festival more elaborate and, by the Edo period (1603–1868), used the parade to brandish their wealth. In 1533, the Ashikaga shogunate halted all religious events, but the people protested, stating that they could do without the rituals, but not the procession. This marks the progression into the festival's current form. Smaller floats that were lost or damaged over the centuries have been restored, and the weavers of the Nishijin area offer new tapestries to replace destroyed ones. When not in use, the floats and regalia are kept in special storehouses throughout the central merchant district of Kyoto in the care of the local people.
The highlights of the Gion Matsuri are Yoi-yama (the night before Yamahoko-junko) on the 16th and Yamahoko-junko on the 17th. Yamahoko-junko is the procession of colorful floats through downtown Kyoto. The floats are pulled through the streets by teams of men dressed in traditional costumes. Each of the large floats carries musicians. The floats are decorated with tapestries or fabrics from Nishijin, Kyoto. Many of them were imported from India, Belgium, Persia, Turkey and other countries in the 15th century. The procession usually starts around 9 a.m. from the Shijo-Karasuma. There are two kinds of floats: yama and hook and are collectively called Yamaboko (or Yamahoko). Yama are smaller floats (weight: 1.2 ton - 1.6 ton, height: about 6m) and carried by people on their shoulders. Hoko are giant floats (weight: 4.8 ton - 12 ton, height: about 25m) on large wooden wheels and pulled by people. There are 32 floats in the procession: 25 yama floats and 7 hoko floats. The most interesting thing to see during Yamahoko-junko is the turns of big floats called tsujimawashi take place in intersections. Men pulling the floats chant loudly, "yoi, yoi, yoi to sei" accompanied with traditional Japanese music played by people who are on the floats. There are 9 of the larger Hoko (long pole or halberd) which represent the 66 spears used in the original purification ritual, and 23 of the smaller Yama which carry life-size figures of famous and important people. All the floats are decorated with beautiful tapestries both from Nishijin (the finest in all of Japan) and imported from all over the world. In addition to the art, there are many traditional musicians and artists sitting in the floats.
The streets are lined with night stalls selling food such as yakitori (barbecued chicken skewers), taiyaki, takoyaki, okonomiyaki, traditional Japanese sweets, and many other culinary delights. Many girls dressed in yukata (summer kimono) walk around the area, carrying with them traditional purses and paper fans. Festival vendors line the streets and traditional Japanese festival music (matsuri-bayashi) is played all over. During the yoiyama evenings leading up to the parade, some private houses in the old kimono merchant district open their entryways to the public, exhibiting valuable family heirlooms, in a custom known as the Byōbu Matsuri, or Folding Screen Festival. This is a precious opportunity to visit and observe traditional Japanese residences of Kyoto.
*Information Source-www.wikipedia.org, www.gojapan.about.com.
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