On July 17th, the festival of Yasaka Shrine in Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto City, where people pray for the warding off of the plague, the Gion Festival, began the parade of floats in central Kyoto.
The strong midsummer sun poured in, and the temperature in the city exceeded 30 degrees at around 8:00 am. At the Shijo-Karasuma crossing in Shimogyo Ward, where the parade starts, Hikaru Taki (11), a young child, climbs a ladder with a strong man on his shoulders as the naginata-boko, who leads the parade without winning the lottery, turns to face the road and is greeted with thunderous applause from the spectators along the route.
At 9:00 a.m., the lead on the front of the float shouted "Enyalaya" with a fan in hand, and the pullers lined up on the street pulled the rope. The halberd squealed into motion, heading east on Shijo-dori.
During the parade, a total of 23 floats, including Yamabushiyama, who was selected as the ``Yamaichi No.1'' in the lottery ceremony, followed the naginata-hoko, and the trailing float, proceeded along Miyakooji.
At the intersections of Shijo Kawaramachi and Kawaramachi Miike, the floats performed a dynamic "Tsuji-mawashi" that changed direction, and the audience applauded and cheered. Unlike last year, there were almost no people wearing masks along the route, and spectator seats priced at 400,000 yen per seat were set up in front of the city hall for the first time.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Gion Festival Yamaboko Federation. Chairman Ikujiro Kimura (74), who led the parade, said, "It's important for us to do the same thing solemnly. I want to do my best so that we can continue to do the same for the next 100 or 200 years."
According to the prefectural police, the number of people along the road was about 150,000, 10,000 more than last year. On July 24th, there will be an Atomatsuri parade, and another 11 floats will decorate Miyakooji.
