Decorated float parade held at Kyoto’s Gion Festival

Ornately decorated floats have paraded through the streets of Japan’s ancient capital of Kyoto in the annual Gion Festival.

The parade of 11 floats began at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday. Leading the procession was one depicting a famous scene of fighting on a bridge between the warrior monk Benkei and the young samurai Ushiwakamaru.

Gion is one of Japan’s three biggest festivals. It is said to have originated more than 1,000 years ago to pray for an end to a plague.

Spectators applauded as the floats negotiated sharp turns at intersections with the help of wet bamboo sticks laid beneath their wheels.

A woman in her 20s from Kyoto’s Maizuru City said she did not know the sticks were used for changing the floats’ directions. She added that she was impressed by the sense of tradition and raw power.