Yasaka Shrine

This is a Shinto Shrine where Susanoono-mikoto, Kushiinada himeno-mikoto and Yahashirano-mikogami are deified. It is usually called “Gion-San” or “Yasaka-San”.
According to the tradition, its foundation dates back to 656 when Susanoono-mikoto was enshrined around here, which was long before the transfer of the capital to Kyoto.
The Gion Festival, one of the most famous festivals of Kyoto, is a festival held every July that derives from the Goryoe (a festival aimed at expelling revengeful spirits )held in 869, a year when plagues prevailed in many areas of Japan, in which participants prayed for the appeasement of evil spirits by putting up 66 halberds (equal to the number of provinces in those days) and sending portable shrines to Shinsen-En (south of the Nijo Castle). This festival has been held once a year since around 970.
Between the evening of December 31 and January 1, the “Okera-Mairi” Festival is organized and lots of people come to pray for good health for the New Year by receiving “Okera fire”, made from the burning of the herb okera. Moreover, women wearing junihitoe (elegant and complex kimono originally worn by court-ladies) get together for the “karuta-Hajime” party, where they play the traditional “one-hundred poem cards”.
Kyoto City