Urade Yama of Gion Matsuri Festival

Urade Yama of Gion Matsuri Festival

The information of Urade Yama is presented here. Urade Yama is a small-sized Yamahoko float (Kakiyama float), and its symbol is a pine tree reaching vertically to the sky. Unlike other Kakiyama floats that use a pine tree as the shinmatsu, Urade Yama is the only Kakiyama float that uses a black pine tree as the shinmatsu. Of all the mountain floats, Shirashiyama was the first to use a large vermilion umbrella.

【Urade Yama Location Map & Directions】

Address: Uradeyama-cho, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan
Access (How to get there): Subway Shijo Station (about 7 minutes on foot), Hankyu Karasuma Station (about 5 minutes on foot)
Location: Urade Yama is located on Nishikikoji-dori, about 60 meters west of the intersection of Karasuma-dori (north-south) and Nishikikoji-dori (east-west). Urade Yama is assembled on Nishikikoji-dori together with Araretenjin Yama.

【Urade Yama History and Brief Overview】

★The origin of Urade Yama (占出山) is not clear. Urade Yama is not mentioned 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), and it is said that Urade Yama was founded after the Onin War. In 1500 during the Sengoku period (1493-1590), Urade Yama was written as “12th Jingu Kogo Yama Ayutsuryama (Nishikinokoji between Karasuma and Muromachi)”, and it is said that Urade Yama was founded as Ayutsuri Yama after the Onin War. After that, it is said that the name changed many times, and it is said that in the early Edo period (1603-1868), it was renamed to Urade Yama. Urade Yama is also called “Ayutsuri Yama”.

★Urade Yama is derived from the legend that during the Sankan Seibatsu (Conquest of the Three Kans) by Empress Jingu, she caught ayu fish in the Hizen (Fukuoka) Matsuura-gawa River as a sign of victory. Empress Jingu was the empress of the 14th Emperor Chuai. When the 14th Emperor Chuai went to Kyushu to defeat the Kumaso and died suddenly at Kashigu Palace, Empress Jingu who accompanied him is said to have made an expedition to Shiragi despite being pregnant, subdued Shiragi without a fight, and returned to Tsukushi (Fukuoka) to give birth to the 15th Emperor Ojin without incident. It is said that during the “Sankan Seibatsu (Conquest of the Three Kans), Kudara and Kokuri, in addition to Shiragi, promised to pay tribute to Japan as well as Shiragi.
★Empress Jingu was born to Okinaganosukune-no-mikoto, the great-great-grandson of the 9th Emperor Kaika, and Kazuraginotakanukahime, the great-great-granddaughter of Amenohiboko, who came to Tajima (Hyogo Prefecture) from Shiragi. After the death of Emperor Chuai, Empress Jingu served as regent from 201 to 269, and conducted political affairs such as the Sankan Seibatsu (Conquest of the Three Kans). Empress Jingu also suppressed and eliminated a rebellion by Prince Kagosaka no mikoto and Prince Oshikuma no mikoto, the 1st and 2nd sons of Emperor Chuai, after the birth of Emperor Ojin.
*reference・・・Urade Yama website

【Features (subject to change)】

★Urade Yama weighs about 0.51 tons. (2008 Data) Unlike other Kakiyama floats, Urade Yama is marked by a black pine tree stretching into the sky.
★The Goshintai (deity figure) wears a golden eboshi (hat) and a sword, holding a fishing rod in her right hand, and an ayu fish about 40 centimeters long in her left hand. In addition, it is said that a belly band is wrapped under the costume to pray for an easy birth. Empress Jingong has long been regarded as the goddess of easy childbirth from ancient times, and as a result, she is deeply revered by the court nobles, and many costumes such as kosode, uchikake, and suikan, which were gifts from princesses of the imperial family and daughters of the court nobles, have been preserved.
★The mizuhiki is an embroidery of the “Sanjuroku Kasen-zu (thirty-six poetic immortals)” depicting Kakinomoto no Hitomaro and others. The mae-kake (front) and the do-kake (side) were the tsudureori of the “Nihon Sankei (Matsushima, Miyajima, and Amanohashidate)” made in 1831 in the late Edo period (1603-1868), but they have been replaced by replicas. The design of the “Matsushima-zu” by Naochi Yamaguchi Sogaku is kept separately. The mikaeri was the tsudurenishiki with a flower, bird, and dragon design, but in recent years it has been replaced by a replica.
★Chimaki, which have the benefit of a safe delivery, hand towels, belly band, good luck charms for safe delivery, kitcho ayu (sweets), etc. are available for purchase.

【Events (confirmation required)】

★In Former Festival Yoiyama from July 14th to July 16th, Komagata-chochin lanterns of Urade 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 Urade Yama depart from Shijo-Karasuma and parade along Shijo-dori, Kawaramachi-dori, and Oike-dori.

【Urade Yama of Gion Matsuri remarks】
*Events may be rescheduled or cancelled. Also, the content of the event may have changed.
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