Kyoto heats up for Gion Festival's 'Yoiyoiyama'

July 17, 2012

By TAKUMI OKADA/ Staff Writer

Even the sweltering summer heat can't keep the crowds from Kyoto's annual Gion Festival, as some 50,000 revelers packed the streets on July 15, 20,000 more than last year.

Even with the daytime high hitting 34.8 degrees, the highest this summer, many yukata-clad partyers descended on the Hoko-cho area, where Komagata-chochin lanterns were lit and Gion-bayashi festival music was being played.

The occasion marked Yoiyoiyama, or the evening two days before the Yamahoko Junko, when the grand procession of “yamahoko” floats are pulled through the streets.

The Yamahoko Junko, the highlight of the month-long festival, starts at 9 a.m. on July 17.

By TAKUMI OKADA/ Staff Writer
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The streets of Kyoto are packed for Yoiyoiyama during the month-long Gion Festival on July 15. (Takaharu Yagi)

The streets of Kyoto are packed for Yoiyoiyama during the month-long Gion Festival on July 15. (Takaharu Yagi)

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  • The streets of Kyoto are packed for Yoiyoiyama during the month-long Gion Festival on July 15. (Takaharu Yagi)
  • Children sing a traditional children's song in front of a table of “yakuyoke" (evil-expelling charms) on July 14. (Takumi Okada)
  • A child wearing heavy makeup and an elegant kimono rides a white horse through the streets of Kyoto on July 13. (Takumi Okada)