By Harry Nara · Last updated
- Where
- Kyoto Imperial Palace to Kamigamo Shrine
- Tickets
- Free to watch in places, ticketed at the main venues
- Runs
- May
- Held
- Annual
The procession leaves the Kyoto Imperial Palace at 10:30, reaches Shimogamo Shrine around midday and Kamigamo Shrine in the mid-afternoon. If it rains the whole thing moves to the following day, and that call is made the evening before.
The procession covers eight kilometres and most of the people watching it see about forty seconds. The exception is Shimogamo Shrine, where it arrives around the middle of the day and stops, because ceremonies are performed there that are no part of the street procession at all. Standing in the shrine forest gets you the horses, the ox carts and the court dress at rest and close up, for the best part of an hour. It is free, and it is the single most useful thing to know about this festival.
What Aoi Matsuri actually is
The festival of the two Kamo shrines, and the oldest of the three great Kyoto festivals by a long way. Its origin is a sixth-century appeal to stop crop failure. The modern form is a procession in Heian court dress from the Imperial Palace to Shimogamo Shrine and on to Kamigamo Shrine: several hundred people, horses, ox-drawn carts, and at its centre the Saio-dai, a young woman chosen from the city to stand for the imperial princess who once served the shrines. Everything, the ox carts included, is dressed with hollyhock leaves, which is where the name comes from.
Where to watch Aoi Matsuri
- Shimogamo Shrine, and this is the answer. The procession arrives around midday and pauses inside the grounds for rituals the street never sees, including horseback ceremonies in the forest approach. The trees give shade, the participants are stationary, and the whole thing lasts long enough to actually look at. Free, and far less obvious to visitors than the palace.
- The Imperial Palace, for the departure. The procession forms up inside the grounds and leaves in the late morning. Good if you want the moment it sets off, and the sense of scale before it strings out along the road. It is also the most crowded of the free options by some distance.
- Marutamachi-dori, a few minutes along from the start. Noticeably thinner than the palace, with the full procession passing at walking pace and room to move. For most people this is the better version of the same view.
- Kitayama-dori on the northern leg, for the quietest option. By the afternoon the crowd has largely dispersed and the procession is heading for Kamigamo through a residential stretch. The costumes are the same and there is almost nobody watching.
- Paid seating at the palace, at Shimogamo and on Gosho-Higashidori. Numbered stands sold in advance through the city tourism board, and gone weeks before the day. They buy you a guaranteed seat rather than a better angle. If you are buying, buy the Shimogamo allocation, because that is where the procession stops.
Tickets and what it costs
The whole eight-kilometre route is free and unrestricted, which is unusual for a festival of this age and status. Paid seating exists at three points only, at a few thousand yen a seat, sold ahead through the city tourism board and gone well before the day. The Shimogamo stand is the pick if you are buying, because it puts you where the procession stops rather than where it passes. Everywhere else, turning up early costs nothing and achieves the same thing.
Official information and booking: kyoto.travel/en/travel-inspiration/the-aoi-matsuri-festival-procession-sales-information-parade-viewing-seats
Getting there
For the palace start, use Marutamachi or Imadegawa on the Karasuma subway line. For Shimogamo, Demachiyanagi on the Keihan line and then a walk north through the shrine’s forest approach, which is worth taking slowly in its own right. For the Kamigamo leg in the afternoon, buses run up Kitayama-dori. The route crosses the centre of the city during the morning, so main streets close to traffic in sequence and buses are diverted around them. The subway is unaffected and is the reliable way to move.
Mistakes worth avoiding
Other Kyoto events
Frequently asked questions
Where is the best place to watch Aoi Matsuri?
Shimogamo Shrine, around the middle of the day. The procession stops there for ceremonies that are not performed on the street, so instead of watching it pass in under a minute you see the horses, ox carts and court dress at rest and close up. It costs nothing.
Do you need tickets for Aoi Matsuri?
No. The whole route is free to watch. Paid stands exist at the Imperial Palace, at Shimogamo and on Gosho-Higashidori, sold in advance through the city tourism board, and they sell out weeks ahead. They guarantee a seat rather than a better view.
What happens if it rains on Aoi Matsuri?
The procession is postponed to the following day. The decision is made and announced the evening before rather than on the morning itself, so it is worth knowing where to check if your travel dates leave no slack.
How long does the Aoi Matsuri procession take?
It covers around eight kilometres over most of the day, leaving the palace in the late morning, pausing at Shimogamo around midday and reaching Kamigamo in the mid-afternoon. At any single point on the street it passes in well under a minute.
What is the Saio-dai?
The central figure of the procession: a young unmarried woman from Kyoto chosen to stand for the imperial princess who historically served the Kamo shrines. She travels in a palanquin in twelve-layered court robes, and the appointment is a significant thing locally.
Is it worth seeing if you have already seen Jidai Matsuri?
They look alike in photographs and are not alike in person. Jidai Matsuri is a costume pageant covering every era of the city, staged in the modern sense. Aoi Matsuri is a working shrine rite that has been performed in more or less this form since the Heian period, and the ritual half of it happens inside the shrine grounds rather than on the road.
Sources
- Kyoto City Tourism, Aoi Matsuri procession and paid viewing seats
- Shimogamo Shrine (Kamo Mioya Jinja)
Dates on this page are checked against the organiser’s own listing and confirmed through 2027. Written and maintained by Harry Nara.