What happens at Yasaka Shrine through the year?

The year at a glance

1. 1–3 JanuaryNew Year (hatsumode)First shrine visit of the year. Okera-sai at 5:00 on 1 January; the first Noh of the year (9:00) and the karuta opening ceremony (13:00) on 3 January.
2. 9–10 JanuaryGion no EbessanFor business luck. On 9 January at 15:00 a boat carrying the Seven Lucky Gods is paraded along Shijo-dori from the shrine steps to Karasuma. Lucky bamboo branches (fukuzasa, ¥1,000) are given in front of the Ebisu shrine on both days.
3. 2–3 FebruarySetsubunDances by geiko and maiko of Kyoto’s geisha districts on the Dance Hall, followed by bean throwing.
4. 30 June, 15:00Summer purification (chinowa)The half-year purification ceremony, with a large ring of grass (chinowa) to walk through.
5. 1–31 JulyGion MatsuriYasaka Shrine’s own festival, a whole month long. At the shrine: mikoshi washing (10 and 28 July), the mikoshi leaving for the Otabisho (17 July) and coming back (24 July).
6. 25 September, 19:00Moon-viewing festival (Kangetsu-sai)An evening festival for the autumn moon.
7. 1–30 NovemberShichi-Go-SanFamilies bring children aged three, five and seven to pray for their growth.
8. 3 November, 12:00Bugaku dance offeringCourt dances in front of the Dance Hall, with a large drum set up for them. Anyone may watch.
9. 31 December, from about 19:30Okera MairiNew Year’s Eve: the sacred okera fire burns through the night, and visitors take some home on a rope.

Source: the shrine's annual events (Japanese) and its event pages. Checked 20 October 2026.

Which days change our crowd estimate?

• New Year. Okera Mairi on New Year's Eve (from about 19:30 until about 5:00 on 1 January) and hatsumode on 1–3 January don't follow the everyday pattern, so we show no estimate.
• Gion Matsuri: Shinkosai. Gion Matsuri Shinkosai: the three mikoshi leave from about 16:00 and gather at the foot of the West Gate steps around 18:30. We show these hours as 100.
• Gion Matsuri: Kankosai. Gion Matsuri Kankosai: the mikoshi return to the shrine between about 21:00 and 23:00. We show these hours as 100.

For the other events we have no separate crowd data; the everyday estimate applies.