Yesterday Kyoto’s Aoi Festival took place, and since I’ve seen the festival several times I thought I’d take a stroll this year around Kamigamo Shrine after the proceedings had ended. I was glad I did, for I found the shrine … Read the rest
Category: Festivals (Page 11 of 26)
A reminder that tomorrow sees one of the Big Three Festivals in Kyoto (the others being the Gion Matsuri in July and the Jidai Matsuri in October). All the preliminary events have been done, such as the horse-riding and various
Boy’s Day
May 5 is officially Children’s Day, a national holiday established in 1948 that is part of Golden Week (a series of holidays at the beginning of May).
In ancient times people suffered disease around this time of year due to … Read the rest
The first Sunday in April sees the Kanamara Festival in Kawasaki take place. This year by a curious coincidence it falls on the same weekend as Easter. In fact, it’s not really a coincidence at all, as Christianity took … Read the rest
Cherry blossom has arrived in Kyoto! The trees along the Kamogawa are out in glorious bloom, and people are flocking to the petals in Hirano Jinja, Kyoto’s special shrine for cherry blossom. Yesterday was the first fine day for the … Read the rest
There are many ‘naked festivals’, though what this generally refers to is men in fundoshi loin cloths who parade through the streets. Some of the naked festivals centre around cold water, some around wooden floats, and some as the … Read the rest
Green Shinto has covered the Toka Ebisu Festival before. It’s the first big festival of the year, taking place on January 10, and particularly popular in Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto. The event in Kyoto takes place at … Read the rest