KYOTO, Japan (AP) 鈥� There鈥檚 a special moment when Katsushi Horikawa feels closer to the gods. It comes as he rides atop one of the towering floats pulled through the streets in a centuries-old procession in .
This is the Gion Matsuri festival, born more than 1,000 years ago as a and celebrated in the former imperial city of Kyoto throughout July.
鈥淚 am conscious of them when I鈥檓 riding on top,鈥� Horikawa said. 鈥淲hen we鈥檙e assembling it as well, but I think the main time is when I鈥檓 riding on it.鈥�
The parades 鈥� accompanied by dances, music and song 鈥� draw large crowds and tourists every year. The biggest floats can weigh up to 12 tons. Yet behind the festive atmosphere lies a tradition rooted in the worship of deities and rituals of protection.
鈥淭hose performances are not meant primarily for the entertainment of people,鈥� said Fabio Rambelli, a religious studies professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. 鈥淭hey are offerings to the gods.鈥�
A festival that has layers of religious history
The Gion Matsuri originated in the late 9th century as a ritual to appease spirits believed to cause epidemics and to pray for protection from disease. It takes its name from Kyoto鈥檚 Gion District and 鈥渕atsuri,鈥� the Japanese word for festival.
At the heart of the celebration is Kyoto鈥檚 Yasaka Shrine, a site whose principal deity has long been revered as a protector against calamities. But the shrine鈥檚 history also reflects centuries of in Japan.
鈥淯ntil about 150 years ago it was a Buddhist temple,鈥� Rambelli said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 part of the religious changes that have taken place in Japan.鈥�
Back then, the sanctuary鈥檚 main deity was Gozu Tenn艒, an ox-headed figure believed to have the power either to spread epidemics or to avert them.
鈥淚t was a kind of syncretic deity 鈥� probably of Indian origin 鈥� with connections to Korea and local folklore,鈥� Rambelli said. 鈥淎 lot of gods in Japan are a mixture of different traditions.鈥�
Early versions of the Gion Matsuri involved that deity, Rambelli said.
To show evil forces and spirits that their god would confront them, devotees carried him around the city in processions that resembled those seen throughout Kyoto today.
A shrine’s turn from Buddhism helps shape today’s Shinto practices
Japan鈥檚 government separated the two traditions of Shinto and Buddhism in 1868 during the Meiji era, effectively bringing Shinto shrines under state control and placing the emperor at the center of the new order.
鈥淏ecause the was the direct descendant of the goddess of the sun, they purified the whole system creating what now we see as Shinto,鈥� said Andrea De Antoni, professor of anthropology and religious studies at the University of Kyoto.
De Antoni said a strong anti-Buddhist movement followed. Temples, mandalas and statues were burned and destroyed.
Shinto was formally separated from the state after World War II, but its traditions still reflect a broader history of religious and cultural influences.
鈥淚t is an institutionalized religion that revolves around ideas of deities called kami and different spirits,鈥� De Antoni said.
鈥淜ami shares its rules with general ideas of animism that can be found throughout the world, but there are a lot of similarities with certain parts of Southeast Asia and with the Pacific,鈥� he added.
Ancient traditions bring communities together
Japanese festivals often serve as ways for deities to be brought into the streets for sacred or ritual purposes while also bringing communities together in celebration.
鈥淭his is the festival of all the people in the neighborhood,鈥� said Jacques Garrigues, a Frenchman who has lived in Kyoto for three decades and who attended the Gion Matsuri procession with his son on Friday.
鈥淲e also come together through a certain sense of religion, although the religious significance is not the same as in France,鈥� he added.
Among the traditions preserved by the Gion Matsuri is the choosing of a boy as a sacred messenger to the gods. During the parade, the selected boy is seen sitting on one of the floats, his feet never touching the ground.
Some key participants spend months getting ready for the celebrations. Different neighborhoods prepare their floats with great care and dedication, with many people trusting the floats will drive away evil spirits.
Atsushi Matono is responsible for erecting the shingi, a sacred tree placed at the top of one of the floats 鈥攖he holiest part of the structure, to which a deity is believed to descend.
Like Horikawa, he describes feeling a sacred presence.
鈥淚 always carry out my work with great care and respect,鈥� Matono said. 鈥淔eeling the presence of the gods.鈥�
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Hern谩ndez reported from Beijing.
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