All About the Gion Festival in Japan, with Jane Wieman
Please join us for a talk about Lakeview Library's current exhibit. Jane Wieman, retired professor of English at Doshisha University, Japan, will share her knowledge and experience of her time in Japan as she shares her photos and artifacts of the Gion Festival, gleaned over many enjoyable Julys of sweltering days, very late nights and too-early mornings. Stay to ask questions and browse the private collection.
The Gion Festival in Kyoto, Japan, is one of the oldest and most spectacular urban festivals in the world. Held throughout the month of July, where purification rituals and prayers for protection from disaster and disease are held at Yasaka Shrine. The climax comes on July 17, when a procession of elaborately ornamented floats, accompanied by musicians, dancers, and clowns, goes through the center of the city to regale the spirits and entice any lingering evils to the outskirts where the waters of the Kamo River may carry them away.
The double mon (crest) of the festival symbolizes water and fire, two purifying agents.
Series
Wisconsin Book Festival