Narita Gion Part I

The bus ride to Narita Station took about 30 minutes, at which point we arrived to find Narita Town decked out to celebrate the Narita Gion Festival. By sheer dumb luck, our layover coincided with this festival. Over the years, I've had good luck with my layovers coinciding with Sanja Matsuri in 2014, Tori-no-ichi in 2018, and Tokyo Pride in 2023.

Gion Festivals are run to appease the gods of pestilence and prevent outbreaks of epidemics. They have a long history in Japan, with the largest and most prominent one in Kyoto having run yearly since 869. The Narita Gion Festival, which lasts three days, dates back 300 years and is also seen as a welcoming of summer.

From Narita Station, we wandered down the Omotesando, stopping to look at the various food and game stands along the way. Our first stop, not surprisingly, was for soft serve. While standing outside the shop eating our ice creams, a yamahoko, or ceremonial float, came along lead by a long procession of celebrants who tugged the float along the road using a very, very long rope. We followed the yamahoko to Naritasan Shinshoji, at which point we veered into the temple grounds and snacked on more street food.Read more