Kyoto’s Gion Festival endures amid reverence and heat, preserving centuries-old rites at Yasaka Shrine while navigating modern risks.
Kyoto's Gion Matsuri festival, one of Japan's oldest rites, draws crowds for a centuries-old parade of 12-ton floats. Scholars describe it as an offering to deities, rooted in epidemic protection, while the Meiji-era split of Shinto and Buddhism reshaped its religious practices.