Gion Matsuri

How the month works

Gion Matsuri is the festival of Yasaka Shrine and runs from 1 to 31 July every year. Most of the month is shrine ritual. What people travel for are the yamaboko, the wooden floats that the neighborhoods of central Kyoto put up in their own streets. There are 34, the tallest as high as a building of five to eight floors, and they are split between two processions. The Saki Matsuri on 17 July has 23 floats, led by the Naginata-boko. The Ato Matsuri on 24 July has 11.

The floats are built in the street, from 10 to 14 July for the first procession and from 18 to 21 July for the second. They are lashed together with rope, without a single nail, and then pulled on a test run. For the three evenings before each procession they stand lit in their home streets. Those evenings are the yoiyama: 14 to 16 July for the Saki Matsuri and 21 to 23 July for the Ato Matsuri.

The floats are only half of the festival. At about 6pm on 17 July the three portable shrines of Yasaka Shrine gather at the shrine's west gate and are carried to a temporary shrine on Shijo-dori. On the evening of the 24th they leave it by three separate routes and reach Yasaka Shrine late at night.

Where to watch the processions

The Saki Matsuri leaves Shijo-Karasuma at 9am, heads east along Shijo-dori, turns north on Kawaramachi-dori and then west along Oike-dori to Shinmachi. The Ato Matsuri leaves Karasuma-Oike at 9:30am and runs the route the other way: east along Oike-dori, south on Kawaramachi-dori and west along Shijo-dori to Shijo-Karasuma. At each corner the crews turn the floats by hand. That turn, the tsuji-mawashi, is the moment to plan your morning around.

Allow about two hours for the Saki Matsuri to pass any one point, from the first float to the last, and about an hour for the Ato Matsuri. Both go ahead in rain.

This is the first corner turn of the Saki Matsuri. The lead float is due about 9:35am, 35 minutes after the start, and all 23 floats turn here. On the 24th the Ato Matsuri reaches the same corner about 10:40am, coming the other way. If you have one morning and want the turns, this is the corner. The price is an early start and two hours on your feet.

Oike-dori is the wide street where the reserved seats go up: between Kawaramachi-dori and Shinmachi-dori on the 17th, when the lead float passes from about 10:30am to 11:20am, and in two shorter blocks on the 24th. Every seat is numbered, and you cannot choose your block when you buy. In 2026 a general seat cost 8,000 yen in the front row and 6,000 yen behind it, and sales opened on 1 June at 10am.

The stands have rules that shape the morning. Parasols and umbrellas are banned because they block the view, so bring a hat and a raincoat. Be in your seat 30 minutes before the lead float is due: the organizers warn that latecomers may not get through the crowd, and there are no refunds unless the procession itself is called off.

The corner of Oike-dori and Shinmachi-dori is the third and last turn of the 17th. The lead float is due about 11:20am, almost two and a half hours after it left Shijo-Karasuma, so this is the corner for a late start: you can arrive in the middle of the morning and still see every float turn. The reserved stands on Oike-dori end here.

Yoiyama evenings

On the yoiyama evenings the floats stand in their streets with lanterns lit and festival music played from on board. Old merchant houses on streets such as Shinmachi-dori and Muromachi-dori take the lattices off their front rooms to show folding screens, a custom known as the screen festival.

Food stalls come out only on 15 and 16 July, and the Ato Matsuri evenings have none. The tourism association's own advice for the first half is to come on the 14th, the calmest of the three evenings, or before sunset, because Shijo-dori, where the Naginata-boko, Tsuki-boko and Kanko-boko stand, packs after dark.

The Ato Matsuri yoiyama on 21 to 23 July is the one for looking at floats: 11 of them, no stalls, and time to study the decorations in the meeting houses. In both halves some floats let visitors climb aboard if they buy a chimaki charm or an entry ticket, and a few keep the old rule that women may not board. Chimaki are protective charms, different for each float. The popular ones draw lines from early morning and can run out before evening.

Getting there

From Kyoto Station, the Karasuma subway line runs north to Shijo, where it meets the Hankyu line, and on to Karasuma-Oike, where it crosses the Tozai line. The Hankyu Kyoto line stops at Karasuma and at its terminus, Kyoto-kawaramachi, both on Shijo-dori. The Keihan line stops at Gion-shijo.

The route is closed to traffic on procession days, and the tourism association sends visitors to the Kyoto police website for the closures, so plan on trains and your feet. For the 9am start at Shijo-Karasuma, use Shijo or Karasuma station. For the Oike-dori seats and the Ato Matsuri start, use Karasuma-Oike.

Where to stay by neighborhood

Shijo-Karasuma is the middle of the float streets and the start of the 17 July procession, so you can walk to every yoiyama float and to the first corner. Kawaramachi, to the east, is on the route and has the Hankyu terminus. The Kyoto Station area is on the Karasuma subway line, which runs to Shijo and Karasuma-Oike.

Osaka is the fallback when central Kyoto is full or too expensive for your dates. The Hankyu line from Osaka-umeda puts you on Shijo-dori without a change. See where to stay in Osaka for the areas by station.

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What it costs

Gion Matsuri costs nothing to watch. The money goes on a seat, if you want one, and on the room.

• Watching the processions and walking the yoiyama: free.

• Reserved seats on Oike-dori in 2026: 8,000 yen for a front-row general seat and 6,000 yen for the rows behind, for either procession. Seats with live commentary cost more.

• Chimaki charms and boarding a float: paid, and set by each float neighborhood.

In 2026 tickets were sold online and at convenience stores through Ticket Pia, nine seats at most per purchase, and could not be changed or canceled once paid.

Heat and etiquette

Kyoto in July is hot and humid. The city's tourism association says days above 35°C have become more common in summer and that sudden downpours are part of the season. Its advice is breathable clothes, a hat and plenty of water. In the reserved stands the hat matters, because parasols are banned.

In the stands, tripods and smoking are banned too, you are asked not to bring alcohol, and the organizers remove people who ignore the staff. On the street, follow the police and the one-way walking routes. The association's yoiyama map marks those routes, the crowded stretches and the trash bins, and it is worth saving before you go.

Mistakes to avoid

Treating 16 July as the main event is the usual one. It is the last evening before the big procession and one of only two with food stalls, and the tourism association steers visitors toward the 14th and toward daylight for a reason. See the floats then, and keep the 16th for a short look at dusk.

The second is to ignore the Ato Matsuri. If you can choose your week, 21 to 24 July gives you 11 floats, the same corner turn at Kawaramachi, a procession that passes in an hour and yoiyama evenings without stalls. What you give up is the Naginata-boko and the larger field of 23.

The third is to count on buying a seat late. In 2026 sales opened on 1 June and tickets could not be changed once paid, so settle your dates before then.