During the festival, the deities of Yasaka Shrine reside in a temporary shrine called the Otabisho (on the south side of Shijo, just east of Teramachi). Before moving the deities on the mikoshi portable shrines, the mikoshi are purified with water from the Kamo River.
I arrived at the Yasaka Shrine Just before the departure of a group of people all dressed up with the same white happy coat. Some of them, probably notables, were wearing traditional kimono and hakama, and were carrying lanterns. Other had merely a fundoshi or a white short. A huge torch ablaze with open flame was carried out of the shrine. The procession went down to Shijo street toward the Kamo river.
Later on, the procession with children came back and more torches were put on fire and more people started to carry the Mikoshi for the purification rituel at the Kamo river, on the Shijo Bridge. The whole area was packed with people.
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Yasaka Shrine
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Torch ablaze carried around
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Going to the Shijo bridge for the purification rite
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Torch ablaze carried around
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Purification rite on the Shijo bridge
