One of Japan’s biggest festivals, the Gion Festival draws hundreds of thousands of people to downtown Kyoto in the middle of the hot and humid summer. Before the parade marking the culmination of this centuries-old ritual conducted to ward off plague, the wooden floats festooned with paper lanterns are put on display along Shijo Avenue and the smaller side streets. I recommend you stick to Shijo. Those side streets can get unsettlingly crowded.
祇園祭なら、夜に提灯で飾り付けられた山鉾を見るのがもっとも魅力的なポイントやと思う。でも近年は、大勢の観光者が集まって、北側の脇道はイテウォン状態になりかねないから、四条通とその南側の脇道に行った方がいいと思う。
©︎Alexandar Farrell