THE GIST OF THIS ARTICLE

• Page 1　Schedule, What is Aoi Matsuri?
• Page 2　Saioh Dai 斎王代
• Page 3　Parade1: Chokushidai Retsu 勅使代行列
• Page 4　Parade2: Saiohdai Retsu 斎王代列
• Page 5　Shato no Gi 社頭の儀
• Page 6　Ceremonies prior to Aoi Matsuri
• Page 7　How to see the parade?

The following is the contents of this article.

What is Aoi matsuri festival?

Aoi matsuri festival is formally called “Kamo no Matsuri” because Kamo shrines hold it. The word “Kamo shrines” means Shimogamo shrine and Kamigamo shrine.

Shimogamo shrine’s formal name is “Kamo mioya jinjya shrine” and that of Kamigamo shrine is “Kamo Wake Ikazuchi jinjya shrine”. Both of them has “Kamo”, so we call both shrines “Kamo shrine” as a whole.

These shrines hold Aoi matsuri festival on the second “bird day (We put Chinese zodiac signs like bird, tiger, and other animals on the days in calendar.)” on May of ancient Japanese lunar calendar. In the present day, they hold it on 15th on May.

Aoi matsuri festival is one of “The three famous festivals in Kyoto (the others are Gion matsuri festival and Jidai matsuri festival)” and also known as one of “The three famous Chokusai in Japan”

Chokusai is a matsuri (festival) held under the order from the Imperial court. At Chokusai, the emperor sends “Chokushi”, the messenger of the Emperor to a shrine that holds Chokusai. Of course in Aoi matsuri, the emperor sends “Chokushi” to Kamo shrines.

In Heian period, “Matsuri” means nothing but Kamo no Matsuri among aristocrats. In Edo period, people called Kamo no Matsuri “Aoi matsuri” gradually because the participants of Kamo sai festival put leaves of Aoi, the crests of these shrine, on their outfits.

Reservation seat to enjoy Aoi Matsuri　2025

On 4/8

The reserved seats for individual tourists starts on 4/8, 10:00. Check the website of Kyoto Kanko Navi (in English) out.

Kyoto Imperial Palace 京都御苑

Shimogamo shrine 下鴨神社

Kamigamo shrine 上賀茂神社

たけちよ

Reservation seats are available at Kamigamo and Shimogamo shrine.

Must sees みどころ

Shedule 葵祭日程

Ceremonies prior to Aoi Matsuri 前儀

The Parade 葵祭当日　5月15日

Ceremonies after Aoi Matsuri 後儀

The history of Aoi matsuri festival

The history of Aoi matsuri dates back to 6th century and it was called Kamo no Matsuri, a private Matusri of Kamosha. Kamosha means two shrines for the Kamo clans. Today they are known as Kamigamo and Shimogamo shrine.

七里ヶ浜親方

Kamosha means Kamigamo and Shimogamo shrine as described before.

Kamigamo shrine mentions that the Matsuri began when Kamowake Ikazuchi no Kami, the deity enshrined in the shrine, appeared in Mt. Koyama: People welcomed him with the horses ornamented with Aoi as indicated in an oracle.

On the other hand, Shoku Nihongi (『続日本記』) and put it:

In the era of emperor Kinnmei, there were many natural disasters and droughts. The emperor asked a fortune-teller named Urabe no Ikiwakahiko about the cause. (Japanese emperor is a ruler of the country and also the highest ranked priest in Shinto, the religion which has gratitude for the nature that gives us harvest. So, if anything wrong about the nature occurred, he is responsible for it.) The fortune-teller told him the cause of the natural disasters and droughts. It was a curse of Kami (Shinto deity) of Kamo. The emperor asked him to hold a ritual to ease the Kami of Kamo. This is the begging of Aoi matsuri festival as Kamo no Matsuri.

シカさん

It is not “curse” exactly. In this case, “deities curse the country” means that rituals don’t take place and the country doesn’t work as expected.

The emperor asked Ikiwakahiko to hold ritual and performed a horse racing in the sacred place where the deity was in. The each jockeys with a boar mask rode on the horses ornamented with bells. After the race, people enjoyed the fertility.

Even today, we can enjoy this horse racing. It was inherited in Aoi Matsuri as Souma no Gi in Kamogamo shrine and Yamagake in Miareno of Kamigamo shrine (This one is not open to us.).

七里ヶ浜親方

They devoted their energy to make the Kami entertained. This is one of the aims of Matsuri. Our ancestors found Kami behind nature and natural phenomenon and believed it behaves like them.

Check out the link below.

Why is Gion Matsuri celebrated? 祇園祭の意味を英語で説明

Gion matsuri has changed in many ways but its aim reminds the same for 1150 years. In this article, you can learn the exact reason why Gion matsuri is celebrated.

kyotokankoyagi.com

2019.06.20

In early 8th century, Shoku Nihongi describes many people came to Kyoto to enjoy Kamo no Matsuri and a low asked Kokushi (a kind of a prefectural governor) to make sure the Matsuri took place properly.

In 810, a conflict happened between emperor Saga and retired-emperor Heijyo gave rise to “the two Imperial courts.” Emperor Saga asked the deities of Kamosha to solve the conflict. In the end, it settled down and he sent his daughter as a priestess to Kamo no Matsuri in order to show his gratitude. This is the beginning of Kamo Sai-in the priestess involved in Kamono Matsuri on behalf of emperor. Today, Saioh-dai, a lady plays a role of Sai-in, participate in Aoi Matsuri.

Kamo no Matsuri was considered as one of the most important matsuris (festivals) in terms of the ancient Japanese law.

On the same year, it became one of Chokusais. Chokusai is a matsuri held under the order of the Imperial court. And in 819, it was added to the four Chushis. Chushi is important Matsuri next to Senso Daijo Sai, the Matsuri held when an emperor accede the throne.

As described, Kamo no Matsuri used to be a private Matsuri. In addition to it, it was listed as Chokusai, the national Matsuri. In a nutshell, there are two kinds of Matsuri.

A private ones were Miare no Matsuris in which people welcome a new-born deities. Without them, Kamo no Matsuri didn’t take place.

七里ヶ浜親方

Even today, this type of Matsuri is alive: Mikage Matsuri of Shimogamo shrine and Miare Shinji of Kamigamo shrine.

 

After these Matsuris, Kamo no Matsuri was commened:

Instead of Sai-in Gokei, Saihodai Gyokei no Gi takes place today. She makes Harae and Misoghi in Kamigamo or Shimogamo shrine.

Rotoh no Gi made a parade and Shatoh no Gi was held in Kamigamo and Shimogamo shrine individually. In the old days, people enjoyed Rotho no Gi as described in The Tale of Genji.

In 13th century, the Imperial courts and the aristocrats were losing their political power and Kamo no Matsuri was on the decline and Kamo Sai-in was abolished.

In the 15th century, Onin no ran, the largest-scale civil war in Japan, devastated Kyoto and Kamo no Matsuri ceased to exist in the 16th century. After that, it was recovered a few times only to fail. Finally, it was restored as Aoi Matsuri in 1953.

In Shinbutsu Shugo

Kamosai don’t allow the co-existence of Shinto and Buddhism (Shimbutsu Shugo). In the Sharyo ( lands belong to shrines) of Kamosya, there were no Buddhist temples except their Jingujis (Buddhist temples belong to Shrine) and the monks of them were not allowed to enter Sharyo.

In 1649, Kamo Sai and Mikage matsuri were restored and these monks made a complaint. The Imperial court and Tokugawa Shogunate asked the reason to Kamosha.

It replied, “天下之通則也.”

七里ヶ浜親方

The sentence means “Obvious. No wonder, isn’t it?”

And it also said “due to this, Saioh uses Imikotoba.”

シカさん

Imikotoba means words not to be used in a situation where something bad or evil must be avoided. Saioh was a priestess who served for deities of Kamo and had to be free from these words.

In the end, they maintained the custom.

七里ヶ浜親方

In contrast to Gion Matsuri, it’s SO interesting. In Gion Matsuri, we cannot separate Shinto and Buddhism. The earliest Gion Matsuri is called Gion Goryoe.  Gorye is a Buddhist ceremony. Gion Goryoe started for the purpose of getting rid of a cause of the epidemics and natural the disasters in 863. The cause was a curse of Gozutenno.

Ancient people thought curse of someone, including deities, brought them bad things like epidemics and natural disasters. That is an idea hiding behind Shinto (primitive one) and indigenous to Japan.

In Japan, Buddhism was imported from India in the 6th century. Since then, Shinto and Buddhism started to fuse. This phenomena is called Shibutsu-Shugo and Gion Goryoe in 863 is considered as a good example of the maturity of it.

On the other hand, Kamo Sai refused Shibutsu-Shugo. In Kamo Sai, a cause of natural disasters is a curse of the deities of Kamo. And Kamo Sai tries to get rid of the cause only in Shinto-way.

What is Gyokei no Gi?

Saiohdai Gyokei no Gi (斎王代御禊の儀) is a ritual held on 4th of May, prior to Aoi matsuri festival. In this ritual, “Saiohdai” purifies herself at a stream of Kamigamo shrine or Shimogamo shrine in every other year. In 2024/ Reiwa 6, it will be held at Shimogamo shrine.

Who is Saiohdai?

Saiohdai (斎王代) means that a substitute of Saioh. Saioh is a priestess served for Aoi matsuri festival in ancietn times. She was chosen in the royal family (mostly a daughter of the emperor) usually. Today, we don’t have the priestess. On the other hand, a lady plays a role of Saioh in Aoi matsuri fesitival and the other rituals belong to it. We discuss about her later in historical point of view.

The video of Saioh da Gyokei no gi

Before making an inspection of the ritual, enjoy Goyokei no Gi.

Gyokei no Gi at Kamigamo shrine 御禊の儀於上賀茂神社

Along the video we saw, let us make sure what Gyokei no Gi is.

The stream in front of Saiohdai is the Nara no Ogawa. There are streams called Omonoigawa and Mitarashi gawa in Kamigamo shrine.

In Japan, we think water purify something evil. These stream go around the main hall of the shrine to tell the border of the sacred and the secular world. They get together and make Nara no Ogawa. So, the stream is also sacred. So, Saohdai make herself purified herself, touching the water of the stream. At Gyokei no Gi, only Saiohdai does this though many ladies participate in the ritual.

On the same reason, rituals to make attendants purified take place in front of the stream and a building called Tsuchinoya, located by it.

After that, all the ladies move to a bridge called Hashidono. On it, they put evil things inside of them on a human-shaped object called Katashiro. The Katashiro for Saiohdai is made of wood though the others are made of paper.

Gyokei no Gi at Shimogamo shrine 御禊の儀於下鴨神社

At Shimogamo shrine, Gyokei no gi is held at Mitarashi ike, a small stream in front of Inoue sha, the sub-shrine of Shimogamo shrine.

You see a white tent. There are seats of relatives of Saiohdai under it. The place where red corns located is for press.

For us, there is a small room left to see the ritual. The ritual starts at 10 a.m. and she touches the stream around 11 a.m.

After the ritual, they move to Shinpukuden to have a photo session.

Saiou-dai in Aoi matsuri festival in historical point of view

Who is Saioh?

Saioh-dai is a most famous lady in Aoi matsuri festival (The lady in the picture above.). The word “dai” means a substitute for someone/something in Japanese. So let me tell you about “Saioh”.

Saioh is a Shinto priestess works as a deputy of the emperor. In the Heian period, when the new emperor was enthroned, a fortune-teller chose Saiou among unmarried ladies in the imperial family on a special fortune-telling.

Once a lady was elected as Saioh, she moved to a small palace called “Hatsu sai in” to purify herself for three years. After the purification of three years, she moved to a small palace temporary built for Saiou called “Nomiya” and purified herself at the river Kamo. After these purification, she was in a state to serve as a deputy of the emperor.

Saiou became extinct in Kamakura period (1185–1333) and was restored as “Saiou-dai” We call her “Saiou-dai” i.e. the substitute for Saiou because she was not erected among the members of the royal family nor is Shinto priestess.

Nomiya or Murasakino Saiin 紫野斎院

Nomiya is build each time Saioh was chosen by Onmyoji, a fortune-teller belonged to the Imperial court. It is believed that Ichiidani Nanano shrine is a debris of one of them which stands the test of time.

Goyokei of Saioh in The Tale of Genji

If you were interested in Japanese culture or literature, you might know The Tale of Genji written by Murasaki Shikibu. In the chapter ‘Aoi’, you can find a incident called “Kuruma arasoi”. That is a small conflict took place at Aoi matsuri festival.

In ancient times, Saioh departs Saiin (the red Torii in the map) heading for south. On Ichijoohji street, she met Chokushi, the messenger of the emperor, and his colleagues (the red alien). They joined together to go to the river Kamo.

The blue alien indicates the supposed place where Gyokei took place. It is “supposed” because the palce was chosen by Onmyoji each time and Gokei was carried out in many places along the river.

People only see Saioh when she was on the way of Gyokei.

How was Gyokei carried on?

The Nenjyu Gyoji Emaki, the guide book of the rituals in Heian period, tells us the ritual.

Around the river Kamo (RIVER in the photo), walls of cloth (3) were made. Inside of the wall, there was a tent (1). (2) is a train of outfit for court ladies. (4) is a torch. It indicates the ritual was held at twilight or night. (5) is a priest.

How to get to Shimogamo shrine?

From JR kyoto station

Take Kyoto city bus no.4 and get off at Shimogamo Jinjamae bus stop.

About Shimogamo shrine

“Kamigamo shrine” is a de facto name of “Kamo wake ikazuchi shrine”. It enshrines “Kamo-wake ikazuchi no kami”, the deity of vigorous thunder.

“Kamo” means the Kamo clan which inhabited around the northern part of ancient Kyoto.

“Ikazuchi” has the same meaning as “Kaminari”. We can devide the word into two words. “kami” and “nari”. “Kami” means deity and “nari” means “sound”. The origin of the word “kaminari” is “Sound made by deity”. So, we adored thunder with awe. in the ancient times.

The official history of Kamigamo shrine indicates the deity descended on the mt. Koyama.

On the other hand, Yamashiro no kuni Fudoki (the report of ancient Kyoto province), indicates that: Tamayoribime found an arrow and brought back it to home. She put it on her bedroom and it made her pregnant.

In 709 A.C., the capital moved to Kyoto from Nara. After the transfer of the capital, Kamigamo shrine was enlisted in “Nijyu-nisya (22 shrines) ” which protects the capital. When our country was in a critical condition, like huge expansion of epidemic,  Nijyu-nisya shrines received dedication of the Imperial court. Niju-nisya desereved this highest honor.

Around the late 15th century, the dedication ceased because the largest civil war in the Medieval ages in Japan took place and the Imperial court was on decline politically and financially.

Sometimes the Imperial court tried to resume the dedication only to fail.

In the 19th century, Kamogamo shrine was enlisted as one of three “Chokusai-sya”. Chokusai-sya is a shrine which deserves a visit of a messenger of the emperor. Kamigamo shrine still is in Chokusai-sya. At Aoi matsuri festival, the emperor send his messenger.

Today, Kamigamo shrine has 2 National Treasures of Japan and is listed as the world Heritage site.

The crest of Kamogamo shrine

The crest of Kamigamo shrine is “Aoi (the leaves in the picture. The crests are embroidered in the red part of the wooden curtain behind the leaves. )”.  The word is devided into two words and  the words transformed “Ahu” and “Hi” each other in the old Japanese language. These words mean “We see Deity”.

Yatagarasu 　八咫烏

We often see a three-legged crow in Kamigamo shrine. The crow is called “Yatagarasu”. It guided the emperor Jimmu, the first emperor of Japan, through his Odyssey. It is believed that Yatagarasu is Kamo wake taketsunumi no mikoto, the founder of the Kamo clan.

He is enshrined in Kuga shrine, the sub-shrine of Kamigamo shrine.

What to see in Kamigamo shrine? みどころ

Main building (National treasure) 本殿

The main hall of Kamigamo  shrine is listed as National treasures of Japan because it has typical “Nagare-zukuri” construction. Take a look at the picture above. The front side of the roof of the shrine is longer than the back side of it. That is a “Nagare-zukuri”. (The shrine in the photo is not a main building of Kamigamo shrine.)

Though the main hall is National treasure, we can’t see it usually. Click the picture of Nakamon gate above.  You can see a banner kanjis and 42 are written. Under the banner, there is a gate and we can’t go beyond the gate except special occasion.

The picture and the video above tell you what is like inside of the Nakamon gate. The picture was taken in a ritual called “Hakuba sohran shinji”. In the ritual, we let the Deity see a horse. So, he stands in front of the main building. He sees ahead a small corridor, a place filled with white pebbles, and the main building. In the video, a priestess is on the corridor and let him eat soy beans.  If the emperor pays a visit to the shrine, he prays on the pebbles. He is the only person to be there.

In special occasion, we can be the same place where the horse stands in the picture.

The main hall has a corridor around it and there is a pair of Komainu. (We cannot take picture of the main hall.) Kamainu is a guardian of shrine and temple.

The peculiar thing in Kamigamo shrine is that it has two-main halls. “Honden (main hall)” and “Gonden (sub-hall)”. Gonden is a substitute for Honden in case of emergency in which we cannot use Honden and “Shikinen-sengu”.

Shikinen-sengu is a reconstruction of a main hall of the Shinto shrine. Around 10 of 80,000 shrines carry it on. Kamigamo shrine practices it every 20 years. Originally, Shikinen sengu needs reconstruction of the building but that of Kamigamo shrine exercise only the reconstruction of the roof because we cannot make large modification of properties of Natonal treasure in terms of law. We have a good example. As I indicated in the article of Kinkakuji temple, the golden pavilion was  caught by fire to burnt out. When it happened, Kinkakuji was listed as National treasure. The government crossed Kinkakuji off the list of National Treasure for the purpose of reconstruction.

歴史的観点

上賀茂神社の正式名称は「賀茂別雷神社（かもわけいかずちじんじゃ）」といいます。「別」とは「若」の意で、「若く正気のみなぎる雷」という意味です。雷とは大和言葉の「かみなり」は「神が鳴らす i.e. 神鳴り」に語源を持ちます。雷とは古来より畏怖の対象でした。例えば、菅原道真の怨霊は雷と結びつけられ、北野天満宮に祀られています。

上賀茂神社は、現在の京都の一部を支配していた「賀茂氏」という氏族の祖神たる「賀茂別雷大神（かもわけいかずちのおおかみ）という神様が祀っています。

平安京遷都以前、現在の京都がまだ山背国（奈良から見て山の後ろにあったのでこう呼ばれていました。平安京遷都に伴い、天然の城市のようだったので、「山城国」と改められます。）だったころから存在する、京都最古の神社の一つです。

社伝によると、神代の昔、本殿から見て北北西に位置する神山（こうやま）とよばれる山に賀茂別雷大神がご降臨になり、天武天皇の御代（8世紀）に現在の社殿が整えられたと伝えられます。

また、『山城国風土記』によれば、賀茂川から流れてきた丹塗りの矢（本殿の写真を御参照ください）を玉依毘売（たまよりびめ）が床の上に置いておいたところ、懐胎し、生まれて来たのが賀茂別雷大神です。

このように、元来は賀茂氏の信仰の対象でしたが、平安京遷都後は二十二社として、皇城の鎮護社の一つと鳴ります。

二十二社とは、平安時代の神社の社格で、国家の一大事に際して、朝廷から特別の奉幣をうける神社がこれに当たります。奉幣とは、天皇の命により幣帛を神社などに納めることです。幣帛とは神様への捧げもののことです。例えば、葵祭の幣帛は布です。二十二社のなかで、上賀茂神社（下鴨神社と共に、「賀茂社」と表記されています。）は伊勢神宮、石清水八幡宮に次いで3番目に位置します。（この三社は別格扱いです。）

また、『延喜式（今日でいう法律の施行規則のようなもの）』では名神大社に列せられます。名神大社とは霊験が顕著な神社のことです。

二十二社の制度は室町時代後期には機能しなくなり、奉幣は途絶えます。しかし乍、明治時代になると、勅祭社（祭の際に天皇の勅使が遣わされるもの）が定められ、上賀茂神社もこれに含まれます。葵祭では今日でも勅使が遣わされます。（ただし、行列の勅使代は勅使ではありません。）

現在では、国宝二棟、重要文化財四十一棟を有し、1994年にはその歴史的価値から、世界遺産に登録されました。

御神紋

葵とは『会う「ひ」』という意味で、「ひ」とは神様を表すそうです。（上賀茂神社ホームページより）

上賀茂神社と八咫烏（やたがらす）

賀茂氏の始祖、賀茂建角身命（かもたけつぬみのみこと）が、神武天皇が大和国に入った時、八咫烏に姿を変えて導いたとの神話から、上賀茂神社と八咫烏には深いつながりがあります。（写真は八咫烏のおみくじ）

賀茂建角身命は上賀茂神社の境外摂社、久我神社に祀られています。

建造物

本殿　（国宝）

本殿は流造（簡単に申しますと、屋根の前側がびよ〜んと伸びている造り）の典型として国宝に指定されています。（写真は模型です。上賀茂神社の本殿は撮影できません。）

しかし、上賀茂神社で特筆すべきことは、本殿が二つあることです。正確には本殿と権殿（ごんでん。「権」とは「仮」のような意味です。）という二つの建物があります。

本殿は他の神社と同様に神様が降りてくる建物です。上賀茂神社の場合も本殿は他の神社と同様です。この本殿の左隣に権殿があります。権殿は何らかの理由で本殿が使えない場合に用いられる、仮の本殿のことです。たとえば、式年遷宮の場合、本殿建て替え時には、権殿に神様を安置します。ちなみに、上賀茂神社は国宝に指定されているため、金閣寺の投稿で申し上げましたように、法律上、建て替えはできません。そこで、屋根の葺き替えを持ってこれに替えています。直近の建て替えは1863年です。尚、上賀茂神社の式年遷宮は伊勢神宮に敬意を表し、一年遅れで行われます

権殿は本殿と同様の機能を有するので、構造、調度品にいたるまで、寸分違わず本殿と同じです。

この本殿と権殿は普段の参拝では見えません。写真の門（中門）のところから遥拝します。お正月や祈祷など、特別の機会にのみ、近くまで行けます。

上の写真は後ほどご紹介いたします、白馬奏覧神事の様子ですが、神山号（馬）がいるのは中門の先（中）で、神山号の前に本殿があります。我々もお正月など特別の機会には神山号と同じところまで行けます。

のちほどビデオをご覧になっていただければお判りになるかと思いますが、神山号の前にはお賽銭をいれるところがありますが、これは廊下のようなところの上にあります。（巫女さんはここに座って神山号に大豆をあげています）そして、その先に白砂を敷いたところがあり、そのさらに先に本殿があります。

この白い砂のところは、確か天皇陛下しか入れない場所です。式年遷宮の一環でこの砂を敷くという行事があり、この時、本殿のほぼ真正面に行った記憶があります。おそらく本殿のすぐ近くまで行けるのはこの機会くらいしかないはずです。日本の庭園の原型は、砂（もしくは玉砂利や小石）を敷いて他と区切った祭祀のための場所ですが、ここはそれが保存されている例です。

他にも、京の夏の旅などのキャンペーンの時にも近くまで行けます。

この本殿と権殿には調度品の狛犬（たしか金と銀）が置いてあり、昔都でわるさをしていた狛犬を封じ込めたものであり、扉にはこれらの狛犬の絵が書いてあるのですが、この絵はロウソクの灯りで扉い映った影をなぞって描いたと伺った記憶があります。

Kigensai at Kashihara Jingu shrine. May all the people be in peace. 合掌

What is Kigensai (紀元祭)?

“Kigensai” is a ritual to cerebrate the foundation of Japan. On January 1, 2026  D.C., Japan has 2,686 years of history. In the Japanese Imperial year, this year is “Koki 2686(皇紀二千六百八十六年).

In Japanese mythology, it is believed that the begging of Japanese history dates back to the enthronement of emperor Jimmu (神武天皇), the first emperor of Japan, at Kajihara Jingu shrine (橿原神宮) in Nara prefecture in January 1, 660 B.C.. January 1 on the lunar calender at that time is the same day February 11 in Gregorian calender.

On that day, many shinto shrines hold Kigensai all around our country. In this article, let me show you the Kigansai at Kamigamo shrine.

Kamigamo shrine (上賀茂神社)

Kamigomo shrine is one of the oldest shrine in Kyoto. Its formal name is “Kamo Wake Ikazuchi Jinja (賀茂別雷神社). “Kamigamo shrine (上賀茂神社) is a de facto name of the shrine. Its history dates back at least 7th century . It is some 100 years before “Heikan kyo (平安京)”, the ancient name of Kyoto, was established as the capital of Japan.

In 1994, UNESCO adopted the shrine on the list of the world heritage site as one of a historical monuments of ancient Kyoto.

Kamigamo shrine is always in family atmosphere though its universal cultural value. Lots of tourists visit historical sites in Kyoto everyday but many of them pay scarce visit here. You can see the neighbors spend good times in “Keidai (境内, a field of shrine)”.

Every week end, a white horse catches your eyes. He (It is a male horse.) is “Koyama-go (神山号)”, the “Shinme (神馬)” of the shrine. He is named after “Koyama (神山)” the mountains worshiped  as the “Goshintai (御神体)” of the shrine. Goshintai is a object to which Shinto Kami (Kind of God) descends. Mt. Fuji is the most famous Goshintai in Japan.

Shinme is a steed for Kami offered by people to shrine as a dedication. These days, it is so hard to keep and offer horse financially for shrines and believers that Shinme is turned into “Ema (絵馬)” instead. Because of these difficulties, only around 10 shrines keeps Shinme in Japan.

On January, priests bring Shinme to the main hall of the shrine to let Kami see him. It is “Hakuba soran shinji (白馬奏覧神事)”, the ritual to drive away evil spirits.

The most peculiar thing in Kamigomo shrine is that the shrine has two main buildings. Shrine has only one main building usually. Kamigamo shrine has a main building and its substitute. The substitute is used in case of emergency. This construction of a shrine is hard to find in other shrines. The building which has stairs in the picture above is not a main building of Kamigamo shrine but that of sub-shrine of Kamigamo shrine. We are not allowed to take pictures of it.

Kigensai at Kamigamo shrine

The Ritual

Around 10 p.m., Shinto priests and “Kemari Players” gather around outside of the shrine.

They move to a “Torii” gate.

In front of the gate, priests and people sing national anthem “Kimigayo (His Majesty”s Reign)” and Kigensai starts.

They are getting into the field of the shrine. Stunning colors in snow.

Chief priest purifies the other priests in front of a river.

They head for a main building of the shrine.

(This is not a main building. It is prohibited to take photo of it. The picture above is a sub-shrine of Kamigamo shrine.)

A priests sit in front of a main building and say prayers and Kigensai goes on…..

Karate Dedication

Outside of the building, Karate is dedicated to Kami. The woman shows off “Kata”(Form) of Karate. There are barrels of “Sake” behind her. They are also dedications to Kami. Shinto has close relationship to rice cultivation. The man punches seven layers of wood boards.

Kemari dedication

“Kemari (蹴鞠)” is an ancient ball game introduced from china around  5th century. It became popular among aristocrats in Heian period (from 794-1192 D.C.).
It has no winner or loser. Players kick ball each other as long as possible with grace. For more information, visit the link below.

Kemari Hajime 2023 at Shimogamo shrine 下鴨神社蹴鞠はじめ英語で説明

Kemari dedication takes place at Shimogamo shrine on January. Kemari is a traditional Japanese foot ball game. Let us learn what Kemari is on video and text: its history, how to play it, and so on. Kemari Hajime is canceled 2021 due to COVID-19.

kyotokankoyagi.com

2018.12.27

On the day I shoot the video, it snowed occasionally. It is very rare footage. Enjoy it!

How to get to Kamigamo shrine?

Kyoto city bus: Kamigamo Jinja mae or Kimigamo Misonobashi bus stop

About Kamigamo shrine