[2025] From the Gion Festival to the Wind Chime Festival! Kyoto's Summer Festivals and Traditional Events

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"Hotel Noum OSAKA" with easy access to Kyoto

Hotel Noum OSAKA, located in Tenmabashi, Osaka, is about an hour by train from Kyoto City . You can base your trip in Osaka and still easily visit Kyoto.

*If you would like to know more about "Hotel Noum OSAKA", please check out the article below*

Enjoy a Japanese "festival" in Kyoto !

Photo courtesy of PhotoACKamo Kamogawa , Kyoto

Various festivals are held throughout the year in Japan. Kyoto in particular has many famous shrines and temples, and is home to many traditional festivals . Here we will introduce Kyoto's summer festivals and traditional events that will help you enjoy the hot summer.

Gion Festival, one of Japan's three major festivals

Photo courtesy of PhotoAC The Gion Festival

The Gion Festival is a festival that draws many people every year, from locals to tourists. It takes place over a month from July 1st to 31st, and the city of Kyoto is filled with a festive mood! Since it lasts for a long period of time, it's great to be able to go whenever you feel like it during your trip.

The highlight of the Gion Festival, the Yamahoko Junko procession, takes place on July 17th and 24th.

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★Nearest station: Hankyu Karasuma Station or Kawaramachi Station, Keihan Gion-Shijo Station

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The Mitarai Festival, where people soak their feet in spring water and pray for good health.

Photo courtesy of PhotoAC The Mitarai Festival

The Mitarashima Festival is held in July at Shimogamo Shrine, a World Heritage Site in Sakyou Ward , Kyoto City . This festival involves immersing one's feet up to the knees in the spring water of the Mitara Pond on the shrine grounds, offering lanterns, and praying for good health.

Anyone can feel free to join in. We recommend going after sunset, when the candlelight shines even more beautifully.

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★Nearest station: Keihan Demachiyanagi Station

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"Wind Chime Festival" where local wind chimes from all over the country are gathered

Photo courtesy of PhotoAC The Wind Chime Festival

About 2 hours by train or bus from Kyoto City. The Wind Chime Festival is held at Shojuin Temple in the mountains of Kyoto. The temple grounds are decorated with over 2,000 wind chimes, and you can feel the cool sound of their sounds.

It is held every year from June to September. You can also experience painting wind chimes, so if you are interested, be sure to check in advance.

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★Nearest station: Kyoto Keihan Bus Oku Shojuinguchi

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Special illumination of national treasures! "Daigoji Mantoukai"

Photo courtesy of PhotoAC Kyoto Temple, Kyoto

The Daigoji Manto-e Festival is held every year on August 5th at Daigoji Temple in Fushimi Ward , Kyoto City . Various Shinto rituals are held to offer prayers for ancestors and spirits, and to give thanks for the preciousness of life.

After sunset, lanterns made by locals are lit up, and the national treasures, the Kondo Hall and the five-story pagoda, are specially lit up. Why not take your time to worship in the temple grounds, enveloped in a fantastical atmosphere?

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★Nearest station: Daigo Station on the Kyoto Municipal Subway Tozai Line

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If you want to enjoy both Osaka and Kyoto, we recommend "Hotel Noum OSAKA"!

At Hotel Noum OSAKA, we can store your luggage before check-in and after check-out . Come and enjoy the Japanese summer.

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