Aoi Matsuri
葵祭
Held on 15 May, Aoi Matsuri is the principal annual rite of the Shimogamo and Kamigamo shrines in Kyoto; its procession travels from the Imperial Palace to the two shrines.
What happens
Aoi Matsuri (葵祭), also called Kamo Matsuri (賀茂祭), is held every year on 15 May. It is said to have begun about 1,500 years ago, in the 5th year of Emperor Kinmei (544), when crop failure, famine, and epidemic spread and were taken to be the anger of the Kamo deity, after which horses were raced and rites performed. It is the reisai — the principal annual rite — of both Shimogamo Shrine and Kamigamo Shrine, and a chokusai, an imperial festival served by the emperor’s envoy.
The festival day was formerly an auspicious day in the fourth month, the second Day of the Rooster, and after the Meiji Restoration it was changed to 15 May of the new calendar, where it remains. The name Aoi Matsuri also came to be used from the aoi that decorate the shrine buildings and that are worn by the festival’s servers. In antiquity it was so rooted in aristocratic society that “the festival” meant this one.
On the day, at 10:30, the procession leaves the Kyoto Imperial Palace. It goes first to Shimogamo Shrine, where rites are performed, and then re-forms and proceeds north along the Kamo-kaido. It reaches Kamigamo Shrine at about 15:30.
At Kamigamo Shrine, the procession advances from the first torii along the white-sand approach. Inside the second torii, the imperial envoy reads the emperor’s message, and rites in their old form are performed, among them the leading of horses and the azuma-asobi dance. Aoi Matsuri is counted as one of the Three Great Festivals of Kyoto, alongside Gion Matsuri and Jidai Matsuri.
When it happens
Before you go
Kamigamo Shrine — photography and drones. Applies inside the precincts only.
Never
- Fly a drone over the precincts of Kamigamo Shrine without prior permission. The shrine states this applies whether or not you are filming, during every festival including Aoi Matsuri, and at all other times.
- Film or photograph inside the precincts of Kamigamo Shrine before obtaining the shrine’s permission.
Photography
Kamigamo Shrine requires prior permission to film or photograph inside its precincts, and says this applies to every festival including Aoi Matsuri, as well as outside festival times. The shrine gives safety and the strict observance of the rites as its reasons. This is the shrine’s own precinct rule and covers nothing else: the street procession, Shimogamo Shrine and the Imperial Palace are not addressed by it.
Where it happens
Only the surrounding area is published for this location.
Japan
General area only
Kyoto
General area only
Sources
- 下鴨神社（賀茂御祖神社）— 賀茂祭（葵祭） · institutional
- 上賀茂神社（賀茂別雷神社）— 賀茂祭 · institutional
- 上賀茂神社（賀茂別雷神社）— 撮影・ドローンについて · institutional
Short code
jp-xr7aq
A short, stable identifier for this entry, printed on cards and quotable anywhere.