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Gion Matsuri. What is Gion Matsuri?. A festival held in Kyoto, Japan for the entire month of July. All events are funded, arranged, and performed by the citizens on Kyoto. The festival is to celebrate a Shinto priest who appeased the gods, and ended the plague of 869 A.D. Yasaka Shrine.
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What is Gion Matsuri? • A festival held in Kyoto, Japan for the entire month of July. • All events are funded, arranged, and performed by the citizens on Kyoto. • The festival is to celebrate a Shinto priest who appeased the gods, and ended the plague of 869 A.D.
Yasaka Shrine • Home of a Shinto priest, whom in led a parade of people through Kyoto to appease the gods, and end the plague. • Today the shrine helps to organize the festivities of Gion Matsuri and ward off evil diseases.
Parades of Gion Matsuri • There is a different parade every night over the course of the one month festival. • Each night a new theme of Japanese history is portrayed.
Hoko and Yama • Thirty-one large floats are paraded through Kyoto. • Each float provides its own music and music and entertainment.
Sagi-Mai • A male and female swan dance together in a holy ceremony. • At the end of the dance a third performer dressed as a serpent is chased from the stage.
Noh Performance • A without dialogue • Very little scenery or props are used. • Performers were a mask so that all emotion is told through motion, narration, and music. • Often Religious inspired stories.
Kyogen Plays • Comic plays entirely based off of dialog. • Many more props and scenery are used. • Plays are often very short, and can be used as a break to serious Noh performances.
Common treats of the Festival • Takoyaki – Flaky pastry around chunks of Octopus meat. • Tomorokoshi – Grilled corn on the cob, basted in soy sauce.