On October 13, 2024, the annual festival was held at Yamaguni Shrine in Keihoku, Ukyo Ward, Kyoto City, and a march was held to recreate the "Ishin Kinno Yamagunitai," a peasant corps that joined the new government forces and fought against the former Shogunate forces during the Boshin War. This year, for the first time in its 150-year history, women joined the parade. A total of about 70 people dressed in haori and hakama paraded through the mountain village on a clear autumn day, playing brave drums and fifes.
In Yamaguni, a preservation society made up of residents has inherited the military music played during the Boshin War march, and a march by a drum and fife corps and a rifle corps is performed every year at the annual festival.
Traditionally, only men participated, but due to the declining birthrate, women were also recruited this year. Six people, from children to adults, participated.
The procession departed from Yamaguni Shrine at 1 p.m., waving the Imperial Flag. In addition to the veteran men, women and elementary school students were beating the drums with all their might, and high school students were playing flutes with a dignified look on their faces. They traveled about six kilometers over four and a half hours, stopping at each shrine in the Yamaguni region.
