Japanese's Celebration

Introduction

The festivities and traditions are very important in the social life of a nation, as this represents the natural identity of them. Certainly Japan is a rich nation in culture, which has even been exported and is accepted worldwide, so much so that some Japanese festivals held in many parts of the world.

Japan has maintained its traditions and celebrations for centuries, and even today they are living with the same intensity and majesty of the time. In Japan, almost all kinds of events there throughout the year, this increases tourism during the different seasons.

The Matsuris, the name given to these festivals are usually sponsored by local temples or shrines throughout Japan and there is at least one matsuri in every town or city, usually related to the rice harvest.

Among the most famous and well known Japanese matsuri are the following: Nada Kenka, Neputa Matsuri, Jidai, Aoi Hadaka, Gion Matsuri, Tenjin Matsuri, Kanda Matsuri, Sanno Matsuri, Sanja Matsuri, Kanamara Matsuri, Hanami, etc.; these being the most important the Gion Matsuri, the Tenjin Matsuri, the Kanda Matsuri and Hanami.

All these celebrations are important in the rich Japanese culture, but this time we will focus further on the two holidays that have become the most anticipated by local and foreign tourists are the Gion Matsuri and Hanami.

Gion Matsuri (祇 园 祭)

The Gion Matsuri is a traditional festival of the city of Kyoto, which at the time one of the most famous in Japan. It celebrates the whole month of July and ends with a grand parade called Yamaboko Junko. This festival is nationally known as Gion -San.

Originally, this festival was part of a purification ritual to appease the gods which was attributed to natural disasters suffered Kyoto. In 869, Emperor Seiwa ordered people to pray to the god of the Yasaka Shrine, so try to pests and plagues that were attributed to an evil god. For this occasion in Kyoto made sixty six stylized and decorated urns, one for each province of ancient Japan who would use them in a procession to the Yasaka Shrine were prepared.

This practice is carried out whenever there was a disaster or plague in the city of Kyoto, until the year 970 was enacted as an annual celebration. Over time the festival became more powerful and influential being a festivals more elaborate, including in the Edo Period use it as a way to expose the public to its power and wealth.

Since 1533, at which time religious celebrations stopped, this evolved fast to the way the current festival, it isn’t only a religious celebration but it is also an opportunity to enjoy and learn more about the city and families of Kyoto.

During the nights of July 14, July 15 and July 16 of each year, the downtown streets are closed to traffic and open to the public, will be found in these places to buy traditional food of Kyoto and also to buy kimonos. These days are pre processions; usually foreign

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