Hosho Yama of Gion Matsuri Festival

Hosho Yama of Gion Matsuri Festival

The information of Hosho Yama is presented here. Hosho Yama is a small-sized Yamahoko float (Kakiyama float), and its symbol is a pine tree reaching vertically to the sky. Hosho Yama is derived from the love story between Izumi Shikibu, a female poet who was said to be a woman in love, and the warlord Hirai Yasumasa (Fujiwara no Yasumasa), and it is said that Hosho Yama has the benefit of marriage.

【Hosho Yama Location Map & Directions】

Address: Toro-cho, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan
Access (How to get there): Subway Shijo Station (about 4 minutes on foot), Hankyu Karasuma Station (about 5 minutes on foot)
Location: Hosho Yama is located on Higashinotoin-dori, about 30 meters south of the intersection of Higashinotoin-dori (north-south) and Takatsuji-dori (east-west).

【Hosho Yama History and Brief Overview】

★The origin of Hosho Yama (保昌山) is not clear. In the “Gionshaki (Records of Yasaka Shrine)”, which describes the names of Yamahoko floats and places in the middle of the Muromachi period (1336-1573) before the Onin War (1467-1477), it is written as “Hananusuto Yama 花ぬす人山 (between Gojo Higashinotoin and Takakura)”, and Hosho Yama is said to have already been founded before the Onin War. Incidentally, it is said that the head of Goshintai (deity figure) dates back to 1500 during the Muromachi period (1336-1573). In 1868, the name was changed from Hananusuto Yama to Hosho Yama. In 1963 , wheels were added for the first time as Kakiyama float.

★Hosho Yama is derived from the love story between Izumi Shikibu, a female poet of the middle of the Heian period (794-1185), and the warlord Hirai Yasumasa (Fujiwara no Yasumasa), who was asked by Izumi Shikibu to break off the red plum of Shishinden in the Imperial Palace.
It is said that Hirai Yasumasa broke off a plum branch, but was discovered by a hokumen-no-bushi (samurai), and he was shot with an arrow and fled. Hirai Yasumasa and Izumi Shikibu were married on the recommendation of Fujiwara no Michinaga. Izumi Shikibu is one of the Nyobo 36 Kasen (36 female poets) and is said to be the author of the “Izumi Shikibu Diary”.
★Hirai Yasumasa (平井保昌, Fujiwara no Yasumasa, 藤原保昌) was born to Fujiwara no Munetada and the daughter of Prince Genmei (Motoaki) shinno. He served successively as Hyuga-no-kami (Miyazaki), Higo-no-kami (Kumamoto), and Yamato-no-kami (Nara), and was given the rank of jushiige. Hirai Yasumasa not only enjoyed waka poetry and music, but also excelled in military prowess, and served Fujiwara no Michinaga along with Minamoto no Yorinobu, Taira no Korehira, and Taira no Muneyori, and was called the “Michinaga Shitenno”. It is known that Hirai Yasumasa played his fue (flute) in the streets of the city at night to intimidate and frighten the bandit Hakamadare Yasusuke, who was trying to steal his clothes. It is also known that Hirait Yasumasa also killed the demon (Shutendoji) together with Minamoto no Yorimitsu. Yasumasa Hirai lives in Hirai (Takarazuka City), Settsu Province (Osaka), which is the origin of his name.
★Izumi Shikibu (和泉式部) was the daughter of Oe Masamune and served the empress of the 63rd Emperor Reizei, Shoshi. She then married Izumi-no-kami Tachibana Michisada and gave birth to Koshikibu no Naishi, but separated from Tachibana Michisada. She was courted by the 70th Emperor Go-Reizei’s 3rd son, Prince Tametaka shinno, and his younger brother, Prince Atsumichi shinno, and remarried Hirai Yasumasa (Fujiwara no Yasumasa), who was known as the “Michinaga Shitenno”. Because of her history of love affairs, Fujiwara no Michinaga called her a “flirtatious woman”, and Murasaki Shikibu, the author of “Genji Monogatari (The Tale of Genji)”, wrote in her “Izumi Shikibu is uninhibited in her love life and I am not impressed”. The dates of Izumi Shikibu’s birth and death are unknown, but it is said that she was born around 976 and died around 1036.
*参考・・・Hosho Yama website

【Features (subject to change)】

★Hosho Yama weighs about 0.67 tons. (2008 Data) Hosho Yama is marked by a pine tree reaching into the sky.
★Hosho Yama enshrined the Goshintai (deity figure) wearing a scarlet armor with a sword attached and holding a stand piled high with red plum blossoms. The head of the Goshintai (deity figure) was made in 1500 during the Sengoku period (1493-1590), and the body of the Goshintai (deity figure) was made by Yusuke, a sculptor who lived in the town, around the Kansei era (1789-1800) during the late Edo period (1603-1868).
★The embroidery of the mae-kake (front) and the do-kake (side) were originally a drawing by Maruyama Okyo, but in recent years it has been replaced by a replica and the sketch has been remade into a folding screen. The miokuri (back) is the tsudurenishiki made in 1798 during the late Edo period (1603-1868), and the mizuhiki is embroidered with phoenix. crane and tiger in the Unryu Hatoumonyo pattern and stitched with peacock feathers. The hikijiki of the Goshintai (deity figure) was newly created in 2011.
★Chimaki, which has the benefit of marriage, hand towels, ema (votive tablets), etc. are available for purchase.

【Events (confirmation required)】

★In Former Festival Yoiyama from July 14th to July 16th, Komagata-chochin lanterns of Hosho Yama are lit and Gion-bayashi (Gion Matsuri music) is played in the evening.
★In Former Festival Yamahoko-Junko (Float Procession, Yamaboko Parade) on July 17th, Yamahoko floats, including Hosho Yama depart from Shijo-Karasuma and parade along Shijo-dori, Kawaramachi-dori, and Oike-dori.

【Hosho Yama of Gion Matsuri remarks】
*Events may be rescheduled or cancelled. Also, the content of the event may have changed.
祇園祭2025日程一覧(宵山屋台・山鉾巡行・・・)

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