Gion Matsuri July 17

The festival originated during an epidemic in 869 as part of a purification ritual (goryo-e) to appease the gods believed to cause fires, floods, and earthquakes. In 869, when people were suffering from a plague attributed to vengeful spirits, Emperor Seiwa ordered prayers to the Yasaka Shrine god, Susanoo-no-Mikoto. Sixty-six stylized and decorated halberds, one for each of Japan's traditional provinces, were prepared and erected in Shinsen-en, a garden south of the Imperial Palace, along with portable shrines (mikoshi) of Yasaka Shrine.

This practice was repeated wherever a plague outbreak occurred. By the year 1000, the festival had become an annual event and has rarely failed to take place since. During the Onin Civil War (under the Ashikaga shogunate), central Kyoto was devastated and the festival was interrupted for three decades in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Later in the 16th century, it was revived by Shogun Oda Nobunaga.

Over the centuries, some floats have been destroyed or otherwise lost, and in recent years several have been restored. Floating neighborhood associations sometimes purchase old tapestries to replace worn or destroyed ones, or commission replicas from industrial weavers in Kyoto, or design and commission new ones from weavers in Kyoto's famous Nishijin traditional weaving district.[citation needed] When not in use, the floats and regalia are kept in special warehouses throughout the central Kyoto district or at Yasaka Shrine.

The festival serves as an important setting in Yasunari Kawabata's novel The Old Capital, in which he describes the festival, along with the Festival of Ages and the Aoi Festival, as "the 'three great festivals' of the old capital."

Here is a list of selected annual events in the Gion Festival.

• July 1-5: Kippuiri, festival opening ceremony in each participating neighborhood
• July 2: Kujitorishiki, lottery for the order of floats in the parade order, held at the municipal assembly hall
• July 7: Visit to the sanctuary by the Chigo children of Ayagasaboko
• July 10: Lantern parade to welcome the mikoshi (portable shrines)
• July 10: Mikoshi arai, purification of the mikoshi with the sacred water of the Kamo River
• July 10-13: Tank construction
• July 13: Visit to the shrine by the Chigo children of Naginataboko
• July 13: Visit to the shrine by the Chigo children of Kuse Shrine
• July 14: Yoiyoiyoiyama
• July 15: Yoiyoiyama
• July 16: Yoiyama
• July 16: Yoimiya shinshin hono shinji, artistic performances
• July 17: Yamaboko float parade
• July 17: Yasaka Shrine Mikoshi Parade
• July 18-20: Tank construction
• July 21: Yoiyoiyoiyama
• July 22: Yoiyoiyama
• July 23: Yoiyama
• July 24: Yamaboko float parade
• July 24: Hanagasa (“flower umbrella”) parade
• July 24: Mikoshi Parade at Yasaka Shrine
• July 28: Mikoshi arai, purification of the mikoshi with the sacred water of the Kamo River
• July 31: Closing service at Eki Shrine

The floats in the Yoiyama Parade are divided into two groups, the larger Hoko ("halberd") and the smaller Yama ("mountain"), and are collectively called Yamaboko. The ten Hoko are reminiscent of the 66 halberds or spears used in the original purification ritual, and the 24 Yama carry life-size figures of Shinto deities, Buddhist bodhisattvas, and other historical and cultural figures. All of the floats are decorated with various tapestries, some made in Nishijin, Kyoto's traditional weaving district, while others have been imported from around the world.

Musicians sit in the floats playing drums and flutes. The floats are pulled with ropes through the street and good luck gifts are thrown from the floats to the crowd. In 1979, Yamahoko was inscribed on the Important Intangible Folk Cultural Properties. And in 2009, Yamahoko was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

On the evening of July 17, hundreds of men carry the resident deities of Yasaka Shrine from various parishioner neighborhoods in portable mikoshi shrines to the otabisho, a temporary dwelling in central Kyoto. The deities are believed to purify all the neighborhoods along the way. They reside at the otabisho for a week, between the two float processions. On the 24th, they are returned to Yasaka Shrine in their permanent dwelling. On the way back to the shrine, the procession stops at Shinsen-en, the site of the first rituals in 869, the former imperial garden.

Every year, the neighborhood associations that maintain the floats draw lots at a special meeting in early July to determine in which order the floats will appear in the processions on July 17 and 24. These lots are presented at a special ceremony at the start of the processions, during which the mayor of Kyoto dons the robes of a magistrate.

The Naginata Hoko depicts a chigo dressed in ceremonial robes and wearing a golden phoenix headdress, chosen as a sacred page to a deity from the merchant houses of Kyoto. After several weeks of special ablution ceremonies, he lives isolated from the effects of contamination (such as inappropriate food and the presence of women) and is not allowed to touch the ground, so he is placed in a wagon. At the beginning of the Yamahoko on July 17, Chigo cuts the shimenawa with a sword stroke.