On July 21, 2024, during the Yoiyama period of the Gion Festival Atomatsuri, komagata lanterns were lit up in the Yamahoko towns of Nakagyo Ward and Shimogyo Ward in Kyoto City. The townscape with its calm atmosphere unique to Yoiyama was lit up using electricity from renewable energy sources.
As part of the efforts of environmentally conscious citizen groups and Kyoto City, a storage battery charged from a natural food restaurant was connected to Takayama (Sanjo-dori Shinmachi Higashi-iru). At 6pm, as the music and the voices of the chimaki sellers echoed, the soft, warm-colored lights came on.
At Kyoto Chionsha, a townhouse along Muromachi-dori near Takayama, works by the two-person unit Himekawa Akira, who drew the original illustrations for the tenugui cloths awarded by the Takayama Preservation Society, were exhibited. The falconer talked about the history and habits of falconry while showing a buzzard perched on his arm. The exhibition will be open until 5:00 pm on July 23rd.
