{"id":6396,"date":"2026-07-19T06:36:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T06:36:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6396"},"modified":"2026-07-19T06:36:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T06:36:07","slug":"a-centuries-old-festival-in-japan-brings-shinto-traditions-and-towering-floats-to-the-streets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6396","title":{"rendered":"A centuries-old festival in Japan brings Shinto traditions and towering floats to the streets"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

KYOTO, Japan (AP) \u2014 There\u2019s a special moment when Katsushi Horikawa feels closer to the gods. It comes as he rides atop one of the towering floats pulled through the streets in a centuries-old procession in Japan.<\/p>\n

Read more 1 killed, 8 injured in an overnight Russian attack on Kyiv<\/a><\/p>\n

This is the Gion Matsuri festival, born more than 1,000 years ago as a ritual to ward off epidemics and celebrated in the former imperial city of Kyoto throughout July. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am conscious of them when I\u2019m riding on top,\u201d Horikawa said. \u201cWhen we\u2019re assembling it as well, but I think the main time is when I\u2019m riding on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The parades \u2014 accompanied by dances, music and song \u2014 draw large crowds and tourists every year. The biggest floats can weigh up to 12 tons. Yet behind the festive atmosphere lies a tradition rooted in the worship of deities and rituals of protection.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose performances are not meant primarily for the entertainment of people,\u201d said Fabio Rambelli, a religious studies professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. \u201cThey are offerings to the gods.\u201d<\/p>\n

A festival that has layers of religious history<\/h3>\n

The Gion Matsuri originated in the late 9th century as a ritual to appease spirits believed to cause epidemics and to pray for protection from disease. It takes its name from Kyoto\u2019s Gion District and \u201cmatsuri,\u201d the Japanese word for festival.<\/p>\n

At the heart of the celebration is Kyoto\u2019s Yasaka Shrine, a Shinto site whose principal deity has long been revered as a protector against calamities. But the shrine\u2019s history also reflects centuries of interaction between Shinto and Buddhism in Japan.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil about 150 years ago it was a Buddhist temple,\u201d Rambelli said. \u201cThat\u2019s part of the religious changes that have taken place in Japan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back then, the sanctuary\u2019s main deity was Gozu Tenn\u014d, an ox-headed figure believed to have the power either to spread epidemics or to avert them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a kind of syncretic deity \u2014 probably of Indian origin \u2014 with connections to Korea and local folklore,\u201d Rambelli said. \u201cA lot of gods in Japan are a mixture of different traditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Early versions of the Gion Matsuri involved that deity, Rambelli said.<\/p>\n

To show evil forces and spirits that their god would confront them, devotees carried him around the city in processions that resembled those seen throughout Kyoto today.<\/p>\n

A shrine\u2019s turn from Buddhism helps shape today\u2019s Shinto practices<\/h3>\n

Japan\u2019s government separated the two traditions of Shinto and Buddhism in 1868 during the Meiji era, effectively bringing Shinto shrines under state control and placing the emperor at the center of the new order.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause the emperor was the direct descendant of the goddess of the sun, they purified the whole system creating what now we see as Shinto,\u201d said Andrea De Antoni, professor of anthropology and religious studies at the University of Kyoto.<\/p>\n

Read more The flight hours and miles of World Cup travels of FIFA\u2019s Infantino in numbers<\/a><\/p>\n

De Antoni said a strong anti-Buddhist movement followed. Temples, mandalas and statues were burned and destroyed.<\/p>\n

Shinto was formally separated from the state after World War II, but its traditions still reflect a broader history of religious and cultural influences.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is an institutionalized religion that revolves around ideas of deities called kami and different spirits,\u201d De Antoni said. <\/p>\n

\u201cKami shares its rules with general ideas of animism that can be found throughout the world, but there are a lot of similarities with certain parts of Southeast Asia and with the Pacific,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Ancient traditions bring communities together<\/h3>\n

Japanese festivals often serve as ways for deities to be brought into the streets for sacred or ritual purposes while also bringing communities together in celebration.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the festival of all the people in the neighborhood,\u201d said Jacques Garrigues, a Frenchman who has lived in Kyoto for three decades and who attended the Gion Matsuri procession with his son on Friday. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe also come together through a certain sense of religion, although the religious significance is not the same as in France,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Among the traditions preserved by the Gion Matsuri is the choosing of a boy as a sacred messenger to the gods. During the parade, the selected boy is seen sitting on one of the floats, his feet never touching the ground.<\/p>\n

Some key participants spend months getting ready for the celebrations. Different neighborhoods prepare their floats with great care and dedication, with many people trusting the floats will drive away evil spirits.<\/p>\n

Atsushi Matono is responsible for erecting the shingi, a sacred tree placed at the top of one of the floats \u2014the holiest part of the structure, to which a deity is believed to descend. <\/p>\n

Like Horikawa, he describes feeling a sacred presence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always carry out my work with great care and respect,\u201d Matono said. \u201cFeeling the presence of the gods.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Hern\u00e1ndez reported from Beijing.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP\u2019s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.<\/p>\n

Read more Make it a dozen: Red Sox rally for 7-6 victory over Rays for 12th straight win<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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