July 18, 2024
KYOTO – A colorful float is pulled along the Miyako-Oji avenue in Kyoto during a procession at the Gion Matsuri festival on Wednesday morning.
The procession, which took place during the festival’s Sakimatsuri, or early festival, began after a child carrying a naginata long sword cut a rope that marks the boundary between the divine territory and the secular world. Throngs of spectators along the route cheered when a large float performed the tsujimawashi technique of changing its direction at an intersection.