Gion Matsuri, Grand Parade

The Gion festival parade has been an an annual event in Kyoto since the 10th century. Thirty-two giant wooden floats are dragged through the downtown as a welcome to the deities of the Yasaka Shrine (the guardian shrine of the Gion district), which are temporarily brought to the city center to protect it (originally against plagues). The multi-story hoko floats are crowded with people playing flutes, drums, and gongs, and the first float carries what the English language guide refers to as a "live" child. This made more sense when we realized that the other floats carried mannequins. The smaller yama floats depict scenes from history, literature, and mythology--many from China. My favorite was a conversation between a Chinese poet and a Zen monk.

We arrived early enough to get a good place on Kawaramachi street in the shade and watched the first several floats go by. Very. Slowly. Eventually, the baby got bored with this, so we walked up to the Oike intersection (the main viewing area) and we were able to see the big floats turn the corner. This was remarkable--the giant wheels don't turn, so big guys with what looked like giant spatulas pried up the wheels while all the pullers jerked the floats around the corner (this took 4-5 pulls). The floats shook and groaned when this happened, and it looked like people would fall off. No one did, and the music continued throughout the process.

When the J decided he had had enough of parades, we had lunch at a coffee shop and did a little shopping since we were downtown. When we emerged from the shops, the parade was over and the train home wasn't even very crowded. We were impressed with crowd and traffic control all week--hundreds of thousands of people turned out for the festivities, and we were still able to get where we needed to be (and with seats on trains and buses) without any hassle or waiting. Kyoto knows how to host a party!

Since the floats collect evil spirits, they are disassembled immediately after the parade, to be reassembled next year. The Yasaka dieties will be returned home later this month.

This is what a bored baby looks like during a very long parade. The high point for him was when another little kid (also wearing his yukata) stopped to say hello.