KYOTO –
The Yamaboko float procession, a highlight of the Gion Festival’s Saki Matsuri festivities, was held in Kyoto on July 17, with 23 elaborately decorated floats known as “moving art museums” making their way through the city center.
The magnificent floats proceeded to the distinctive “konchikichin” sounds of traditional Gion festival music, displaying the ornate craftsmanship and splendor for which the centuries-old festival is renowned.
The Gion Festival dates back to 869, when Kyoto, then the imperial capital of Heian-kyo, was suffering from an epidemic. The imperial court ordered a purification ritual known as a goryo-e at the garden of Shinsen-en, where 66 spears representing Japan’s provinces were erected to appease spirits believed to be causing disease. The ceremony later became associated with Gion Shrine, now known as Yasaka Shrine, and developed into one of Japan’s most important annual festivals.
The name Gion originally referred to the shrine and the Buddhist guardian deity Gozu Tenno, who was worshipped there as a protector against epidemics. The surrounding district grew as pilgrims visited the shrine, with teahouses, restaurants and entertainment establishments gradually appearing along the approaches. It later became one of Kyoto’s best-known traditional entertainment quarters, associated with geiko and maiko and its preserved wooden townhouses.
The Yamaboko floats emerged as prominent features of the festival during the medieval period, particularly as Kyoto’s merchant communities became wealthier and increasingly involved in organizing the celebrations. Each float is maintained by a neighborhood association, and the skills needed to assemble, decorate and operate them have been passed down through generations. The floats are constructed without nails, using ropes and traditional wooden joints, before being pulled through central Kyoto by teams of residents.
Yama are generally smaller floats carrying figures or scenes drawn from Japanese and Chinese legends, historical episodes and Noh plays, while hoko are larger structures topped by tall poles that were traditionally believed to attract and contain harmful spirits. Many are decorated with elaborate textiles, carvings and metalwork, including valuable fabrics imported from China, Persia and Europe, earning the procession its description as a “moving art museum.”
The festival and its floats survived repeated wars, fires and periods of disruption. The procession was suspended during the Onin War, which devastated Kyoto from 1467 to 1477, but was revived by local residents in 1500. Several floats were later destroyed in major fires, including the Hamaguri Gate Rebellion of 1864, although preservation groups rebuilt or restored many of them over time.
The Yamaboko procession was traditionally divided into an early and later festival before the two were combined in 1966. The original arrangement was restored in 2014, with the Saki Matsuri procession held on July 17 and the Ato Matsuri procession on July 24. The float ceremony was added to UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009 and was incorporated into the broader listing of Japan’s Yama, Hoko and Yatai float festivals in 2016.
Source: Kyodo
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