SEPTEMBER
Kangetsukai Moon-Viewing held in September is an event associated with the Japanese custom of appreciating the moon on the nights of the full moon. It is held during the moon-viewing evening to pray for a good harvest and happiness.
At Daikakuji Temple in Arashiyama (Left photo), visitors can enjoy the moon viewing on a Ryutousen (dragon boat) or Gekishuisen (a boat) floating on Osawa Pond, which is said to be one of the three best places to view the moon.
AUGUST
Kyoto Gozan Okuribi
The “Gozan Okuribi” (Gozan bonfires), also known as “Daimonji Yake” or “Daimonji no Okuribi” light up the summer night sky in Kyoto. This traditional cultural event is considered one of the four major festivals in Kyoto, along with the Aoi Matsuri, Gion Matsuri, and Jidai Matsuri. It is an important ceremony to send off the spirits of ancestors called “Shourai (spirits of the dead)” who were welcomed during the Obon period to the afterlife.
Date: Friday, August 16, 2024 (basically rain or shine)
<Lighting time for each mountain bonfire>
Daimonji 8:00pm Myouho 8:05pm Funagata 20:10pm Hidaridaimonji 20:15 Toriigata 20:20
JULY
Gion Matsuri
Gion Matsuri is a one of the biggest festivals in Kyoto and it takes place over the entire month of July. Yamahoko are decorated floats that every neighbourhood in Kyoto builds. They are decked with local arts and crafts that’s why some call them walking museums. There are a total of 35 floats: 23 for the Mae-matsuri, 11 for the Gosai-matsuri, and 1 for the Resting Yamahoko. Conducted throughout the month of July, it reaches its high point on the 17th with a parade of floats, some of which carry groups of musicians.
Tanabata Festival
Tanabata is an annual event that is celebrated on July 7th in Japan.Although, in some areas, it is celebrated in August according to the Japanese lunar calendar. Tanabata festival is based on the old Chinese folktale, about a couple of lovers in the sky, Orihime and Hikoboshi. They fell in love with each other and married, but after they got married, they started neglecting their work, so the Sky King separated them and didn’t allow them to see each other. Now, they are only allowed to meet on July 7th, so on that day, we have a celebration dedicated to the meeting of Orihime and Hikoboshi. It is a very nice event where a wide range of people, from children to adults, make wishes on strips of paper.
JUNE
Nagoshi-no-harai
Natsukoshi-no-harai is a Shinto ritual held on June 30, halfway through the year, to purify the body of impurities that have accumulated over the past six months and to pray for good health for the remaining six months of the year.A thatched ring larger than a person’s height is set up at the shrine, and visitors walk through it to ward off bad luck. This is based on a story that Susanoo-no-Mikoto, who asked for a place to stay on his journey, was treated warmly by Sominshorai even though he was poor, and later, as Susanoo-no-Mikoto said, he escaped the plague by wearing a thatched ring on his waist.