🪙THE GOLDEN PAVILION🔥 True beauty is something that attacks, overpowers, robs, and finally destroys. -Mishima Yukio (三島由紀夫). In 1950, almost bald of gold, and having survived the Ōnin War, Kinkaku-ji was burnt to the ground by Hayashi Yōken, one of its own novice monks.

Another day, another celebration. August 5th is 'Box Day' (ハコの日)!🤔 Established by the Tōkyō Paperware Industry Association (東京紙器工業組合) in 1991, as you might expect the date is a play on words. ハコ 'hako' = box 📦ハ = 8 📦コ = 5 #ハコの日 #boxday #Japan #blackcats

Happy "Owl Day"!🦉🙌 the horned owl's opinion- every day is long 木兎は不断日永と思ふ哉 -Kobayashi Issa (小林一茶), 1807. Trans. David Lanoue. #OwlAwarenessDay #InternationalOwlAwarenessDay #owls #フクロウ #Japan #ukiyoe #浮世絵

🍡MOREISH MITARASHI😋 Today is the beginning of a three-day period celebrating mitarashi dango (みたらし団子)!🎉 Actually, this happens every month from the 3rd-5th　because... 3= 'MI' (み) 4= 'taraSHI' (たらし) 5= 'danGO' (だんご) Tenuous wordplay? Yes. Fun? Also, yes. #Japan

🌞GREATER HEAT🔥 Summer in the city, and there's only one good way to start each day...with an iced coffee and a bite of something sweet🤔 Or you could always combine the two🙌 The all too adorable 'reikō' (冷コー) from Nijō Wakasaya (二條若狭屋)☕️ #二條若狭屋

🐍🥵DOGS DAYS & EELS😋⛱️ The hairdryer heat, the constant whir of insects, the lack of shade...everything at this time of year feels exhausting. The dog days of summer are here. today too, heat and tomorrow, more heat? house in the trees けふもけふも翌もあついか薮の家 -Kobayashi Issa.

🍉WATERMELON DAY🥤 Kameya Yoshinaga's (亀屋良長) adorable 'hito-suzumi' (ひと涼み 'cooling off') are the perfect treat for July 27th's 'Suika-no-hi' (スイカの日)!🥳🍉🙌 #wagashi #和菓子 #suikanohi #スイカの日 #watermelonday #Japan #Kyoto #京都

🐗🔥PIG PROTECTION🌪️🦟 One of the great joys of summer is taking out the sliding doors and blurring the line between garden and tearoom, relishing the morning cool before it gets too hot. But... Mosquitoes also love the garden. So what to do?🤔 #Kyoto #京都 #蚊取り線香 #Japan

👅MELT-IN-THE-MOUTH MORSELS💦 Wibbly-wobbly warabimochi (わらび餅)☺️ A popular summer snack in Kansai, the melt-in-your-mouth warabimochi is a jelly-like sweet traditionally made from bracken starch (わらび粉 'warabiko'). It's covered with sweet, toasted soybean flour (黄粉).

🪷THE TEMPLE OF LOTUSES📿 A remarkable transformation takes place at Hōkongō-in (法金剛院) shortly before the Gion Festival. The temple's muddy, rather nondescript pond suddenly bursts into life, and for a short time it is one of the most famous lotus viewing spots in Kyōto. #Kyoto #京都

🏮🦊FOXLIGHT🦊🏮 Typically on the first Sunday (or national holiday) after 'doyō ushi-no-hi' (土用丑の日 'midsummer day of the ox'), Fushimi Inari (伏見稲荷大社) celebrates its biggest festival. Over 8000 lanterns are illuminated on the eve of 'Motomiya-sai' (本宮祭). #Kyoto

My morning cycle to work is now accompanied by the deafening whirr of cicadas...very much the sound of summer in Japan. #cicada #セミ #Kyoto

🌊🦀DAY OF THE SEA🏖️⛵️ Happy 'Marine Day'!😅 Umi-no-hi (海の日) was first celebrated in 1996 as a day of gratitude for the blessings of the oceans. As an island nation, the seas have played an important role in the development of Japan. #海の日 #MarineDay #Japan #Kyoto #uminohi

🥁THE 2 GREAT PARADES😅 Adorned with precious artwork, tapestries, ornaments, textiles and dolls, Gion Matsuri’s 'yamaboko' (山鉾) are literal treasure boxes. Now known as 'moving museums', how did the transformation from simple halberds to lavishly decorated floats occur? #Kyoto

🥁THE FLOATS OF THE GION MATSURI (PART 2)👆 18) ARARE TENJIN-YAMA (霰天神山)🔥 Arare Tenjin-yama, the 'Divine Hail Float', is also known as Hiyoke Tenjin-yama (火除天神山), the 'Protection Against Fire Float'. It celebrates the life-saving rain that extinguished a terrible fire (some time between 1504-21).

🥁THE FLOATS OF THE GION MATSURI🙌 July, consumed as it is with the Gion Matsuri, always passes in the blink of an eye, so I thought I'd compile a list of the 34 individual floats ('yamaboko' 山鉾) that you'll be able to see at this month's festival. #GionMatsuri #祇園祭 #Kyoto

✨CHIMAKI CHARMS🙏 One of the most important tasks in July for many households and businesses in Kyōto is the refreshing of the 'chimaki' (茅巻き). Sold exclusively during the Gion Matsuri, these broom-like charms hang by doorways to prevent misfortune entering the home or office.

👘FESTIVAL, BUT MAKE IT FASHION✨ The Gion Matsuri's float musicians, 'hikiko' (曳き子 - float pullers), 'ondotori' (音頭取り - cheerleaders), and even those selling float goods, dress in clothing unique to the 34 'yamaboko'. NHK Kyōto exhibited some of the festival's beautiful yukata.

🪢IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME🪵 Between July 10 and 14th the floats that will participate in the Gion Matsuri's first parade (the 'Saki Matsuri' 先祭り - July 17th) are constructed. The parts are laid out, slotted together, and then meticulously bound in rope. #Kyoto #祇園祭

🎨🖼️THE MOVING MUSEUMS🪘🙌 Thirty four floats currently participate in the Gion Matsuri’s (祇園祭) two parades. This number was far higher in the past, but conflagrations and economic considerations have seen many of the yamahoko disappear over the centuries. #GionMatsuri #祇園祭

🌟🍬SPOONFULS OF SUGAR😋🎋 Ryokujuan Shimizu (緑寿庵清水) has been making konpeitō (金平糖) since 1847, and is the only store still specializing in this hard, star-like, candy. It is said that to fully train one of their artisans takes at least 20 years!😮 #緑寿庵清水 #konpeito

🥒THE MONTH WITHOUT CUCUMBERS🚫 The crest of Yasaka-jinja (八坂神社), home to the Gion Matsuri, resembles the cross-section of a cucumber, and thus the fruit has gained sacred status during the festival. One of the strangest customs in Kyōto is the giving up of cucumbers for July!

👻THE ORIGINS OF THE GION MATSURI🙏 Simply put = 👹😱😫🤒🤮 🙏 👹➡️😇 💪🥳 In looking at the origins of the Gion Matsuri (祇園祭) we must start a few years prior to the plague of 869, to the first goryō-e (御霊会). Disease in those days was attributed to either gods or spirits.

🌟THE STAR FESTIVAL🎋 chirr-chirr! insects also work their looms... stars of Tanabata しやんしやんと虫もはたおりて星迎 -Kobayashi Issa (小林一茶). Tanabata (七夕), also known as 'Hoshi-matsuri' (星祭り the 'Star Festival'), celebrates the reunion of Orihime and Hikoboshi on the 7th day of the 7th month.

👹KYŌTO'S GRANDEST FESTIVAL😇 Summer in Kyōto is said to begin with the Gion Matsuri (祇園祭) and end with the Gozan-no-Okuribi (五山送り火)🤔 an anti-plague charm on Simon bamboo... door of the inn なよ竹のささら三八御宿哉 -Kobayashi Issa (小林一茶), 1812. Trans. David Lanoue. #Kyoto #京都 #Japan #祇園祭 #祭

🐎👘🌕KYŌTO IDIOMS🍆🪂🛶 The city has given birth to a handful of common phrases used in Japan. Often these idioms give us an insight into unusual customs, historical figures, famous festivals, and sometimes even reveal a little of what people think of Kyōtoites🤔 #Kyoto #京都

🥒🫑🍆KYŌTO'S CINDERELLA🥕🥦🥔 One of Kyōto's most popular snacks for Tanabata is Matsuya-Tōbee's 'Tamaori-hime' (珠玉織姫), small balls of sugar and rice dough. The sweets come in 5 colours, and although available all year round sell out quickly during the Star Festival🎋 #Kyoto

🍉🥒FRUIT AND VEG🍒🍑 There is something quite adorable about traditional sweets that mimic (or incorporate) seasonal fruit and vegetables. For a few short weeks in May each year Toraya (とらや) produce a plump little sweet called 'nasubi-mochi' (なすび餅 'eggplant mochi')🍆 #Kyoto #wagashi

🍘👹A CRACKER TO AVOID THE PLAGUE🤲🍘 Beside Kamigoryō-jinja (上御霊神社) is a small store that sells one type of confection only...a simple, sweet cracker. Like the shrine itself, the crackers have a deep connection to the origins of the Gion Matsuri (祇園祭). #Kyoto #京都

👣🌿RING OF PROTECTION🔄🙏 Shortly before the mid-point of the year giant rings of reed begin appearing in shrine precincts across the country. 'Chinowa' (茅の輪) are sacred portals, washing off the impurities gathered over the last six months and offering protection for the next six😇 #茅の輪 #chinowa