Case file · Folklore / legend
The plague rite that became the Gion festival
In 869, during an epidemic, 66 halberds, one for each province, were set up in Kyoto to appease the plague deity Gozu Tennō, the origin of the Gion Matsuri.
869 CE · 35.00, 135.78 · status: official
The account
The rite belonged to the same fear of angry spirits and plague gods as the goryō-e. Yasaka Shrine's July festival with its towering floats grew from it.