In Photos: Kyoto's Aoi Matsuri festival showcases Japanese courtly history

In Photos: Kyoto’s Aoi Matsuri festival showcases Japanese courtly history – The Mainichi

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Aya Yamauchi, this year’s “Saio-Dai” festival heroine, is seen on a palanquin as the procession parades through a forest at Shimogamo Jinja shrine in Kyoto’s Sakyo Ward on May 15, 2025, as part of the Aoi Matsuri festival. (Mainichi/Ririko Maeda)

Aya Yamauchi, this year's

The parade procession departs from the Kyoto Imperial Palace in the city's Kamigyo Ward, May 15, 2025, as part of the Aoi Matsuri festival. (Mainichi/Ririko Maeda)

Aya Yamauchi, this year's

The procession parades through a forest at Shimogamo Jinja shrine in Kyoto's Sakyo Ward on May 15, 2025, as part of the Aoi Matsuri festival. (Mainichi/Ririko Maeda)

The

Actor Hiroshi Fujioka is seen taking part in the

A participant in a parade for the Aoi Matsuri festival wears a headset decorated with futaba aoi hollyhock leaves, as seen in this photo taken in Kyoto's Sakyo Ward, May 15, 2025. (Mainichi/Ririko Maeda)

Deputies of the Emperor's envoy carry out the

The procession parades through a forest at Shimogamo Jinja shrine in Kyoto's Sakyo Ward on May 15, 2025, as part of the Aoi Matsuri festival. (Mainichi/Ririko Maeda)

Aya Yamauchi, this year's

A deputy of the Emperor's envoy carries out the

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