Ato Matsuri Tales from the Latter Festival of the Gion Matsuri

July in Kyoto is a month of pageantry and ancient traditions, with the Gion festival rituals standing out as the most spectacular.

Among these events, the parade of floats on July 17 attracts the most attention but the Yamahoko Junko is actually a tale of two processions: Saki Matsuri - the Early Festival - and Ato Matsuri, the Latter, or Later, Festival.

This procession on July 24 features only 11 floats, just under half of the 23 in Saki Matsuri, and the floats are relatively smaller.  

But the stories of derring-do that they tell belie their size - these are floats that flex. 

Should you be in Kyoto during the Yoiyama street festival period - the three days before the procession - make your way to the downtown neighborhoods where the floats are parked. 

Pore over antique tapestry decorations, let the music of gongs and flutes ring in your ears -  and go home fired up by the stories.

Suzuka Yama: She Has a Naginata and She Knows How to Use It

Not for the float community of Suzuka Yama a gentle, merciful goddess like Yoryu Kannon, venerated by the Kitakannon Yama and Minamikannon Yama floats.

Not for the neighborhood the fabled warriors Benkei and Ushiwakamaru, whose legendary duel in Kyoto is depicted by Hashibenkei Yama nearby.

No - for the community, it's got to be the fierce protection of the one-woman Swat team known as Suzuka Gongen: Goddess Suzuka. 

According to legend, a demon terrorized villagers and travelers alike on Mount Suzuka, located in the northern reaches of present-day Mie prefecture. Night after night the attacks continued until the goddess sallied forth and vanquished the demon.

The statue on the Suzuka Yama float shows the guardian deity armed with a naginata halberd and wearing a Noh mask that reflects her status as a goddess. 

The float also carries a pine tree. Attached to the base is a clump of reddish hair that symbolizes the head of the demon. It looks...realistic.

The demon attacks may actually be a reference to raids by mountain bandits. As Mount Suzuka was a notoriously dangerous section of the Tokaido, the vital highway linking Kyoto with the shogun's city of Edo, Kyoto merchants would have good reason to pray to the goddess for safe passage.   

It can be no accident that the ema - votive plaques more usually seen in Shinto shrines- that decorate the float are said to offer protection against robbery and theft.

These plaques are distributed after the procession but not many are available. For a talisman with the same effect, get one of the Suzuka Yama chimaki sold during the eve of the festival instead. 

Jomyo Yama: I've Got This! I've Got This! Pardon Me

The Japanese god of war himself - Hachiman - makes an appearance in the festival. 

Dedicated to this Shinto deity, the Hachiman Yama float carries a golden miniature shrine said to have been made in the Tenmei period, making it about 240 years old. 

Farmers and fishermen have prayed to this deity for bountiful harvests and catches since ancient times. But because two prominent warrior families also worshipped Hachiman, he became venerated as a war deity by samurai all over the country.

Those two families were the Heike and Genji clans - the opening battle of their epic clash in the late 12th century serves as the subject matter of Jomyo Yama. 

The figures on this float depict two warrior monks in an episode where Japanese history suddenly turned into a Shaolin movie. 

The year was 1180 and the Kanmu Heishi and Seiwa Genji clans - more commonly known as the Taira and the Minamoto - were slugging it out for control of the country. 

The Minamoto commander sought support from anti-Taira temple Mii-dera in Nara.

But it was decided that the temple could not withstand an attack so some of the monks marched with him to Uji, a strategically important point between Nara and Kyoto.  Once there, they tore up the planks of the bridge to stop the Taira from crossing the Uji river. 

An archery battle began, with the two sides shooting at each other from opposite ends of the bridge.  

Having run out of arrows, warrior monk Tsutsui Jomyo Meishu strode out onto the beams of the bridge to take on the enemy with his naginata. 

The narrowness of the bridge meant that no one could fight beside him. Seeing this, another monk, Ichirai, rushed out. He cried, 'Pardon my ill manners, Jomyo!', and vaulted over him.  

The festival float shows Ichirai holding a naginata with one hand  and pressing the other on Jomyo's head as he leaps over the monk.

Ichirai bore the brunt of the assault until he fell. Jomyo carried on fighting and when he ran out of weapons, retreated to the temple behind him. The story goes that he had 63 enemy arrows stuck in his armor. (The replica bridge on the float also sports a few arrows.)

The Taira forces eventually managed to ford the river and the Minamoto lost the battle. 

But five years later, they won the war - splashy details in The Tale of Heike - which may be why the talismans sold by the Jomyo Yama community are said to bring victory. 

Kuronushi Yama: For Some, Beta May Be Better

Alpha floats packing medieval heat may seem to dominate the Later Festival, but their beta cousins should not be overlooked. 

One of them, Kuronushi Yama, shows Heian-era poet Otomo no Kuronushi as an old man gazing up at a profusion of sakura. 

Going out in blaze of glory on a bridge, naginata flashing, or growing old and enjoying cherry blossoms - you decide what success means to you. 

Named as one of the Six Poetic Geniuses in 10th century verse anthology Kokin Wakashu, Kuronushi was also deified and enshrined in Shiga province. 

Perhaps he annihilated the competition at Heian poetry slams. 

Koi Yama: Swimming Upstream is for Minnows - Swim Up Waterfalls!

As one of the few Gion festival floats with a non-human as its principal figure, Koi Yama can easily be spotted in the procession. 

Enshrined on the float is Susanoo no Mikoto, one of the principal deities of Yasaka Jinja, the shrine that presides over the Gion Matsuri.

But the actual figure on this float is a fish. A big fish. Specifically, a carp.

According to a Chinese legend, a carp that succeeded in swimming against the currents of the Yellow River and leaping up the waterfall at Dragon Gate - Ryumon in Japanese - would become a dragon. 

This has come to symbolize hard work bearing fruit in the form of personal advancement.

If you feel like you could use a bit of help in this area, consider getting a Koi Yama chimaki. In keeping with their brand story, the talismans promise to bring career advancement and success in life. 

Ofune Hoko, Taka Yama: It Takes As Long As It Takes

The feats described by the Ato Matsuri floats may seem beyond the capacity of ordinary human beings.

It can be hard to jump out of bed, let alone vault over another person into the thick of battle. But Olympic-grade warrior monks would probably be the first to urge you to try - and to keep trying.

It doesn't matter how many obstacles you face or how many times you fail, as long as you return to your task and target.

That's what the float communities behind Ofune Hoko and Taka Yama did for years. 

One of the three floats in the Gion festival dedicated to Empress Jingu, a semi-legendary ruler who sailed to the west and returned with a ship of treasure, Ofune Hoko was destroyed in the Hamaguri Gomon Incident in 1864. 

During this uprising - also known as the Kinmon Incident - anti-shogunate rebels set fires in Kyoto, burning down much of the city. 

Though all but a few treasures from the Ofune Hoko were gone, determination was not lost. It took more than a century but momentum slowly gathered and, in 1997, the float's musician ensemble was revived. 

Using Fune Hoko - the only other boat-shaped float in the Gion Matsuri - as a model, the community rallied behind the project, raising funds and amassing support. 

Ofune Hoko, a float that aptly celebrates a triumphant return home, was finally able to participate in the procession in 2014 for the first time in 150 years. 

The festival's latest comeback kid, Taka Yama, must also be mentioned.

With a history stretching back more than five centuries, this falconry float was mostly destroyed by the same fire that consumed Ofune Hoko in 1864.

But the three statues that had been displayed on the float for generations were rescued and its community didn't give up hope of revival. 

Taka Yama returned to the procession for the first time in 196 years in 2022, bringing much-needed cheer to a city living under the cloud of the Covid pandemic.

 Today, the float is one of the biggest draws in the street festival held before the procession. 

So put in the work even if a goddess with a naginata has your back. Do it even you've bought magic talismans. 

It doesn't matter if you start out as a carp; you can finish - at the top of a waterfall - as a dragon. If a giant fish in an ancient Japanese festival says so, it must be true.  

Written by Janice Tay

 

Gion Matsuri Festival: Original Maps and Illustrated Digital Guide

If you plan to watch the assembly of the floats or view them during the festival eve, take a look at this map. A collaboration between the Kyoto Shimbun newspaper and digital map platform Stroly, the map provides float construction dates as well as an overview of the Gion Matsuri's events, which run every year from July 1 to 31.