Miyako Festivals

The Miyako¹ Nenju Gyoji Gajo (Picture Album of Annual Festivals in the Miyako) is a 2-volume work, delicately hand-painted on silk by Nakajima Soyo in 1928 and available online [thumbnails] among the Nichibunken databases at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies in Kyoto (homepage in english).

"[The albums depict] the annual festivals and customs of Kyoto at the beginning of the Showa² period. These paintings are accompanied by explanatory texts written by the folklorist and Kyoto scholar Ema Tsutomu."

¹Miyako ('capital') is an archaic name for Kyoto [and Tokyo (Edo)]
²The Showa period corresponds to the reign of Emperor Hirohito (1926-1989*)

The mouseover titles in the above images -- most were spot/stain cleaned moderately -- are at best an approximation from wonky translations. The dates in the titles refer to the time each festival began, *I think*. There are a few more saved in the set.

• Procession of Ages.
• Kyoto's three famous festivals and the Gozan Fire Festival.
• The Festival of Ages and the Fire Festival.
• Flickr photos.
• Previously: Japan / festival / costumes.