The last post in this series about the Gion Matsuri in Kyoto is about the Ato Matsuri Yamaboko parade. Once again, the traditional floats are pulled through the streets, keeping a tradition from 1150 years ago alive.
The Ato Matsuri parade moves in reverse to the Saki Matsuri one, meaning the start this time was at Karasuma Oike. I came early enough to said place and found a good place to watch. The second parade is a bit shorter than the first, but not less interesting my any means.
On time, as always in Japan, the parade started moving. An announcer gave explanations about the floats, also in English, although I did not understand much because of the noise.
The last two floats were the highlight of the parade. The Taka yama was revived this year after it was lost for 196 years after it was damaged in a storm in 1826. The float was constructed using the old technique without using bolts or nails, so only the color of the wood gave away that it was recently built.
The last float was the Ofune hoko, which reminds of a boat on wheels. This float was also recently revived — in 2014.
Really nice pictures!