A centuries-old festival in Japan brings Shinto traditions and towering floats to the streets

KYOTO, Japan (AP) — There’s 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 Japan.

This is the Gion Matsuri festival, born more than 1,000 years ago as a ritual to ward off epidemics and celebrated in the former imperial city of Kyoto throughout July.

“I am conscious of them when I’m riding on top,” Horikawa said. “When we’re assembling it as well, but I think the main time is when I’m riding on it.”

The parades — accompanied by dances, music and song — 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.

“Those performances are not meant primarily for the entertainment of people,” said Fabio Rambelli, a religious studies professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. “They are offerings to the gods.”

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’s Gion District and “matsuri,” the Japanese word for festival.

At the heart of the celebration is Kyoto’s Yasaka Shrine, a Shinto site whose principal deity has long been revered as a protector against calamities. But the shrine’s history also reflects centuries of interaction between Shinto and Buddhism in Japan.

“Until about 150 years ago it was a Buddhist temple,” Rambelli said. “That’s part of the religious changes that have taken place in Japan.”

Back then, the sanctuary’s main deity was Gozu Tennō, an ox-headed figure believed to have the power either to spread epidemics or to avert them.

“It was a kind of syncretic deity — probably of Indian origin — with connections to Korea and local folklore,” Rambelli said. “A lot of gods in Japan are a mixture of different traditions.”

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.

Japan’s 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.

“Because the emperor was the direct descendant of the goddess of the sun, they purified the whole system creating what now we see as Shinto,” 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.

“It is an institutionalized religion that revolves around ideas of deities called kami and different spirits,” De Antoni said.

“Kami 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,” he added.

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.

“This is the festival of all the people in the neighborhood,” 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.

“We also come together through a certain sense of religion, although the religious significance is not the same as in France,” 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 —the holiest part of the structure, to which a deity is believed to descend.

Like Horikawa, he describes feeling a sacred presence.

“I always carry out my work with great care and respect,” Matono said. “Feeling the presence of the gods.”

Hernández reported from Beijing.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Young women dressed in traditional attire take part in the "Mikoshi Arai" purification ritual ahead of the Gion Matsuri festival in Kyoto, western Japan, Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Fred Mery)

A geiko, a regional word for geisha, and a maiko watch one of the main parades of Shinto's Gion Matsuri festival in Kyoto, western Japan, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Fred Mery)

Festival participants carry Yasaka Shrine's Eastern Mikoshi back into the shrine's main hall following the "Mikoshi Arai" purification ritual ahead of the Gion Matsuri festival in Kyoto, western Japan, Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Fred Mery)

A festival participant carries a giant purification torch past tourists and local residents during the "Mikoshi Arai" purification ritual ahead of the Gion Matsuri festival in Kyoto, western Japan, Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Fred Mery)

Young women dressed in traditional attire take part in the "Mikoshi Arai" purification ritual ahead of the Gion Matsuri festival in Kyoto, western Japan, Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Fred Mery)

A festival float passes by maikos and geikos watching one of the main parades of Shinto's Gion Matsuri festival in Kyoto, western Japan, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Fred Mery)

Festivalgoers are seen atop a festival float during one of the main parades of Shinto's Gion Matsuri festival in Kyoto, western Japan, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Fred Mery)

People carry the "Niwatori Hoko" float during one of the main parades of Shinto's Gion Matsuri festival in Kyoto, western Japan, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Fred Mery)

The top of a festival float is seen during one of the main parades of Shinto's Gion Matsuri festival in Kyoto, western Japan, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Fred Mery)

Musicians are seen atop a festival float during one of the main parades of Shinto's Gion Matsuri festival in Kyoto, western Japan, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Fred Mery)

A geiko, a regional word for geisha, and a maiko watch festivalgoers pass by during one of the main parades of Shinto's Gion Matsuri festival in Kyoto, western Japan, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Fred Mery)

A festival float passes through a narrow street during one of the main parades of Shinto's Gion Matsuri festival in Kyoto, western Japan, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Fred Mery)

A geiko, a regional word for geisha, and a maiko watch one of the main parades of Shinto's Gion Matsuri festival in Kyoto, western Japan, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Fred Mery)

A giant festival float is paraded through a cheering crowd during one of the main parades of Shinto's Gion Matsuri festival in Kyoto, western Japan, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Fred Mery)

Festival participants carry Yasaka Shrine's Eastern Mikoshi back into the shrine's main hall following the "Mikoshi Arai" purification ritual ahead of the Gion Matsuri festival in Kyoto, western Japan, Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Fred Mery)

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium (AP) — Kimi Antonelli saw off a challenge from Charles Leclerc to get back to winning ways at the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday as his teammate and Formula 1 title rival George Russell failed to finish.

Antonelli started on pole but lost the lead to Leclerc when a virtual safety car slowdown allowed the Ferrari driver to save time during his pit stop.

Antonelli sped back past Leclerc with 10 laps remaining and cruised from there to his sixth win of the season — and his F1 career — and first since last month's Monaco Grand Prix.

“Let’s go!” he told the Mercedes team over the radio. “Thank you so much, guys, thank you.”

Leclerc was second and Max Verstappen was third after briefly taking, then losing, the lead from Antonelli on the opening lap.

The Italian stretched his standings lead after Russell was left stuck in the gravel on the first lap after he was pushed into a spin by Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.

In a sign of tension at Mercedes after a heavy blow to his title chances, Russell seemed to blame his car, rather than Hamilton, for the incident.

Hamilton was fourth for Ferrari after an eventful race including a five-second penalty for colliding with Russell, verbal spats with Ferrari over strategy and car setups over the radio, and knocking over a Ferrari mechanic as he left the pits.

Hamilton immediately asked after the team member’s health and was told he was OK, but was still facing an investigation after the race for an “unsafe release” from the pit stop.

Lando Norris started 13th for McLaren thanks to a grid penalty but sliced through the field and even briefly led the race when others pitted. A pit stop delay dropped him back but he still finished seventh.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy, left, steers his car during the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)

Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy drives into the pits after clocking the fastest time during qualification ahead of the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)

Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy, center, stands on the podium with second place Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands, left, and third place McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain after clocking the fastest time during the qualifying session ahead of the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)

Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy celebrates after clocking the fastest time during qualification ahead of the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium, Saturday, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)