Day 9: Gion Matsuri
Gion Matsuri is one of Japan’s most famous festivals, which runs the entire month of July in Kyoto. Today (July 24) has the distinction of hosting Festival’s second major parade (aka. Yamaboko Junko float procession) which runs thru downtown Kyoto. And what luck! Our hotel is only 10-minutes away from the action.
Crowd control underway on Shijō Street
Like Inti Raymi, but with umbrellas!
We woke up early and walked across the river to join the fun. Belinda mapped out a great spot to view both the flower hat procession and the giant float parade. Even though it was definitely crowded, we got there early enough to snag a spot in the shade, but not so early that we were standing around for hours. Also, being tall has some advantages in Japan.
Hanagasa Junko (Flower Hat or Flower Umbrella Procession)
The original purpose of Gion Matsuri was a 9th-century Shinto purification ritual to appease angry deities, and halt a devastating epidemic. Now it’s more of a big party featuring various historic neighborhood traditions.
Today’s parade is the “Ato Matsuri” (Later Festival) which is a slightly less crowded affair than the first parade. This parade features 11 massive Hoko floats that didn’t appear a week ago. The Hoko floats are huge (up to 12 tons) rolling museums, with giant trees extending upwards (25 meters) to serve as “spiritual lightning rods” to attract and trap evil spirits. They are constructed using only timber and hemp rope. Teams of pullers use web bamboo to physically turn the floats 90 degrees to navigate the city streets.
Accurate parade float preview
Hoko approaching
Throw that Hoko in park for a minute
Cooling the engines
Waiting for the preceding float to turn 90 degrees
Souvenir Hoko replicas… much lighter
Amid the festivities, Matt and Jo realized an opportunity to cross the street, continue watching the parade from a slightly different angle, and ALSO get in line for the Onitsuka Tiger store. It worked out really well. Jo got in line and could still clearly see the parade while Matt handled the photos. When the store opened, we got in with the first wave of customers from the line — which had grown much longer as we were waiting.
Here’s the Onitsuka Tiger play-by-play for those interested: Jo wanted the pink foils — either the exclusive Japan-made version or the regular version (with slightly different shades) — but neither were the right size. Drat! Matt tried on a couple of Nippon-made Mexico 66s. One black pair with blue and red accents inspired by Kabuki design, and one white pair with a stylized standard logo in red (Japan flag colors). Couldn’t decide, so just got both. Then Jo tried the regular (not foil) pink Mexico 66s and liked them. By then, Lily and Mel joined us and confirmed we made good picks. (Thank you, youth correspondents!) Lily couldn’t resist a brown pair of the Kabuki Japan exclusives. Plus, the brown design was a brown new arrival this morning. So it’s possible Lily was the first person in Japan to buy them. Our very helpful sales guy approved. Success!
Onitsuka Tigers Round 2
Kabuki-inspired Tigers
The next mission was for Lily to find some clothes at GU. Belinda met us along the way to assist. Matt and Jo were then freed up to head back to the hotel, and picked up a couple Japan-inspired shirts at UNIQLO on the way. Turns out shopping in Japan is a real thing, folks.
We picked up some 7-11 lunch items and dined in the luxurious air-conditioned Cordina suite with Cordwood and Charles, all while watching Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament Recaps on YouTube.
Next on the agenda was a bus ride to TeamLabs Biovortex, an popular art “museum” filled with rooms of floor-to-ceiling light-based installations that are designed to interact/delight/mess with your powers of human perception. In some rooms, the exhibits respond to your movements. Other rooms were more physical, with moving objects you (sometimes) could touch. Everything was very cool and a lot of fun. (Emphasis on cool, of course, thanks to the air conditioning.)
Prepare to be immersed
Vortex immersion Part 1
Vortex immersion Part 2
Vortex immersion Part 3
Vortex immersion Part 4
Vortex immersion Part 5 (nice shoes)
Vortex immersion Part 6
Vortex immersion Part 7
We left to go back to the Gion area for a 7pm show called GEAR. We walked through the Nishiki market, a huge covered shopping arcade. The plan was to find some food on the way to the show. But, even though it was only 6pm, a lot of the shops were closing. As Melanie noted, it seems like every place in Japan is either a shop that closes early or a hole-in-the-wall that stays open all night!
Nishiki Market points
Plus, we were also trapped by a Gion Matsuri-related portable shrine traffic jam in the middle of the market. The 10-minute procession featured a gold float (that barely fit the aisle), horseback riders, and the chanting of songs. Not entirely sure what was going on, but it was fun. It looked like these were the same guys that were pulling the parade floats earlier in the day, which probably explains why they were all chugging water bottles like fish on dry land.
Portable shrine (mikoshi) traffic jam
Cordwood, Belinda, and Charles managed to find food at one of the stalls, while Matt, Jo, Lily, and Mel went to the 7-11 next to the theater. We made it to the show on time and found our seats. GEAR is a non-verbal theater show that is a mix of dance, magic, and mime. Matt was randomly picked to go on stage during the magic portion of the show and managed to not derail the show.
Tonight’s GEAR show performers
One additional performer
Thank goodness for the goggles
After the show, we made the short walk back across the river to the Rinn. We didn’t spend much time hanging out in the Cordina suite because the plan for tomorrow — as advised by Lily and other TikTok users — is to get up as early as possible to check out the Fushimi Inari Shrine. Good plan, see you in the morning!
Kamo River view at night
