Gion Matsuri

About the festival

The Gion Matsuri is held throughout July at Yasaka Jinja Shrine and is one of Japan's three great festivals, alongside Kanda Matsuri in Tokyo and Tenjin Matsuri in Osaka. Among the three, Gion Matsuri is generally considered the largest and most elaborate.

The festival's origins go back to 869 CE, when a plague swept the country and the Emperor sent a messenger to Yasaka Jinja Shrine to pray for its end. Sixty-six ceremonial halberds, representing the sixty-six provinces of Japan at the time, were erected and offered to the god Gozu Tenno, an event regarded as the start of the festival.

The main event is the procession of yamaboko floats, 34 in total, split across two processions: the Saki Matsuri on 17 July, with 23 floats, and the Ato Matsuri on 24 July, with 11 floats. In the evenings leading up to each procession, known as Yoiyama, many old houses along the route open their front rooms to display family heirlooms and folding screens, a custom that has earned the festival its alternate name, the Screen Festival.

The 2026 festival runs from 1 to 31 July, with the Saki Matsuri procession on 17 July and the Ato Matsuri procession on 24 July.