Gion Matsuri, a celebration originally to ward of the ravages off the plague in the 9th century, has now become Japan's premiere festival. At the Blue Lotus we will be celebrating with month long activities and fun- all are welcome to participate and visit. Here is a tentative list of events planned:
Gion Matsuri Opening Ceremonies
July 1st 2009 at 1 pm SLT
A group performance featuring various ranks of Blue Lotus Geisha centered around Gion Kouta
Float building /parade planning for Hanagasa Junko ( Flower parasol parade)
July 10th 5am-7am SLT
July 11th 10am-12noon SLT
July 12th 10am-2pm SLT
July 13th 10 am -2pm SLT
As we will be only having one parade in July we have combined floats with the classic parasol and floral hat into one festive procession. Any SL group interested in participating and representing their group are welcome. Please contact BL maiko Umeha (Hana Hendrassen) for details. Patrons and friends also welcome to participate or just enjoy watching.
Hanagasa Junko ( Flower parasol parade)
July 24th, 2009 at 11am SLT
Parade featuring the floats and costumes of Gion Matsuri parades ..including special presentations of ladies representing various SL Okiya
Hanagasa Odori
July 24th 2009 at 7pm SLT
at the SS Galaxy
Performance of the Hanagasa Odori (Flower parasol dance) to traditional Music by Blue Lotus Geisha.
Tanabata Legend
July 26th 2009 at 11 am SLT
Tanabata Legend play featuring voice narrative at the Blue Lotus Stage.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Saturday, July 4, 2009
July - the month of Gion Matsuri
July is the end of the rainy season and the beginning of the summer. It is the month of fireworks, the hottest days and the Tanabata festival. And the month of Gion Matsuri, one of the three largest festivals in Japan.
Gion Matsuri takes place in Kyoto, the ancient capital city of Japan. Throughout July, there are street fairs with music, games and Japanese festival food. The crowning event is Yamaboko Junko, the procession of 32 giant decorated floats through the streets of Kyoto on July 17th. In the preceding evenings of the previous three days these floats are illuminated by lanterns and in the evening of July 16th thousands of people dressed in Yukata take to the pedestrianized streets of downtown Kyoto to view them amid the constant festival music of flutes, drums and bells.
This celebration initially originated as part of a purification ceremony in response to a plague when a priest of the Yasaka shrine led a procession through Kyoto in an attempt to appease the Shinto gods. The plague ended soon, but this was repeated wherever an outbreak would occur. In the year 970 it was decreed an annual event and has since seldom been broken.
The Blue Lotus Okiya welcomed the new month with the Gion Matsuri opening performance on July 1st at 1pm SLT: in the beautiful scenery of the Cherry Path Gardens Umeha, Hatsuyo and the three Shikomi Bryony, mushroom and amarna danced to the melody and lyrics of Gion Kouta, a traditional and very popular folksong in Japan, played by me (Ichisumi) on the shamisen. We were dressed in the same Kimono of Flower&Willow and wore the same Gion Matsuri kanzashi of Hana Katsuraya. In spite of some SL problems all went well.
In the course of Gion Matsuri we will hold more performances and Ozashiki, please watch our blog calendar and teahouse group for keeping up-to-date.
Gion Matsuri takes place in Kyoto, the ancient capital city of Japan. Throughout July, there are street fairs with music, games and Japanese festival food. The crowning event is Yamaboko Junko, the procession of 32 giant decorated floats through the streets of Kyoto on July 17th. In the preceding evenings of the previous three days these floats are illuminated by lanterns and in the evening of July 16th thousands of people dressed in Yukata take to the pedestrianized streets of downtown Kyoto to view them amid the constant festival music of flutes, drums and bells.
This celebration initially originated as part of a purification ceremony in response to a plague when a priest of the Yasaka shrine led a procession through Kyoto in an attempt to appease the Shinto gods. The plague ended soon, but this was repeated wherever an outbreak would occur. In the year 970 it was decreed an annual event and has since seldom been broken.
The Blue Lotus Okiya welcomed the new month with the Gion Matsuri opening performance on July 1st at 1pm SLT: in the beautiful scenery of the Cherry Path Gardens Umeha, Hatsuyo and the three Shikomi Bryony, mushroom and amarna danced to the melody and lyrics of Gion Kouta, a traditional and very popular folksong in Japan, played by me (Ichisumi) on the shamisen. We were dressed in the same Kimono of Flower&Willow and wore the same Gion Matsuri kanzashi of Hana Katsuraya. In spite of some SL problems all went well.
In the course of Gion Matsuri we will hold more performances and Ozashiki, please watch our blog calendar and teahouse group for keeping up-to-date.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
