2025 Aoi Festival, one of Kyoto’s three major festivals: Parade route, schedule, and a sweets shop
Today’s tour is the Aoi Festival. Let’s go. The Aoi Festival is one of the three major festivals in Kyoto, and attracts many foreign tourists. We will introduce the dates of the Aoi Festival, the parade route, what kind of festival it is, where is the best place to see it, and seasonal sweets from Japanese confectionery shops that are loved by locals and have long lines. The Aoi Festival, which originated about 1,500 years ago, is a festival held at Shimogamo Shrine and Kamigamo Shrine, and every year on May 15th, the parade of about 500 people dressed in Heian period costumes marches about 8 kilometers from the Kyoto Imperial Palace to Shimogamo Shrine and Kamigamo Shrine. In early May, there are various pre-ceremonies, including the extremely popular Yabusame, making it a must-see event for tourists in Japan in May. Their heads are decorated with the ornament of the hollyhock and katsura. The katsura branch is entwined with the two-leaf hollyhock leaves, the sacred crest of Shimogamo Shrine and Kamigamo Shrine. The parade of women will appear. This year’s heroine, the Saio-dai, will be a graduate student. The traditional and enchanting costumes of the grassland are memorable, like a Heian picture scroll. This festival has been attracting attention since ancient times, and is also featured in literary works such as The Pillow Book and The Tale of Genji. There are paid seating options, but you can also view the entrances and exits of the Imperial Palace and shrine, as well as the moving parede, with relatively few crowds. May is usually cool, but today the maximum temperature rose to 26.7 degrees. Because of the high humidity in Japan, it is muggy compared to the climate in the United States and other places. Even though it is early summer, it is important to stay hydrated and take measures against heatstroke. This oxcart, called Goshoguruma, slowly moves forward, swaying its wisteria flower decorations. The wheels make quite a loud noise. In those days, the emperor’s messenger rode in the oxcart for the ceremony to pray for the peace of the nation. The cow is excited and thrashing about. The spectators cheer him on. As the parade heads to Shimogamo Shrine, it passes through the nature-rich Kyoto Imperial Palace. There will be traffic restrictions on the day as cows and horses will be using the roads. Please be aware of this if you are traveling by car. These police mounted unit will lead the parade to ensure security. People walk around in traditional straw-woven shoes called waraji, but these shoes come off easily if you don’t put pressure on your toes when walking, so it’s not easy to walk long distances in shoes you’re not used to. We head to the Japanese sweets shop that was featured in the video of the Yabusame Horseback archery at Shimogamo Shrine, where there was a long line. Demachi Futaba is a long-established Japanese confectionery shop founded in 1899, located a six-minute walk from Demachiyanagi Station on the Keihan Railway. While there are many standard Japanese sweets, we recommend trying different types of Japanese sweets that change with the seasons. I bought the most popular bean mochi（mame mochi）, kashiwamochi which is eaten on Children’s Day on May 5th, and minazuki which is eaten at the Nagoshi no Harae ceremony on June 30th. This is a mame mochi, a famous daifuku mochi from Demachi Futaba. The beans are not too sweet and have an interesting texture. Minazuki is a triangular Japanese sweet made of uiro rice cake topped with beans. The beans represent protection from evil, and the triangle represents ice. It is eaten in hopes of good health. For the kashiwamochi, I chose the Kyoto limited edition white miso flavor. It was surprisingly delicious! Don’t forget to subscribe and like! May you have many good things today!
The Aoi Festival is a traditional festival held on May 15th at Kamo Mioya Shrine (Shimogamo Shrine) and Kamo Wakeikazuchi Shrine (Kamigamo Shrine) in Kyoto Japan.
It recreates a procession of aristocrats from the Heian period, with more than 500 people wearing costumes decorated with Aoi leaves going from the Kyoto Imperial Palace to Shimogamo Shrine and Kamigamo Shrine.
The highlights are the oxcarts, horses, and gorgeous costumes, allowing you to experience Japanese history and culture.
The “Yabusame Shinto Ritual” and “Okage Festival” that take place before the festival are also popular.
It is an event that is attractive to foreigners as a highlight of Kyoto tourism.
00:00 Introduction
00:18 Aoi Festival at the Kyoto Imperial Palace
01:40 The appearance of the heroine
03:59 A parade marches down the road
04:56 Demachi Futaba
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