Japan’s supernatural world springs to life in a particular Hyakki Yagyo occasion you received’t need to miss.
Many conventional festivals happen in Japan’s historical former capital metropolis of Kyoto, however for lots of vacationers this autumn, none of those occasions will maintain a candle to Hyakki Yagyo. Actually translating as “Night time Parade of One Hundred Demons“, Hyakki Yagyo has lengthy held a spot within the nation’s folklore as an evening during which supernatural beings generally known as “yokai” parade by way of the true world…and any people who come throughout the procession are in peril of shedding their lives and being spirited away.
In Kyoto, the parable has seeped into actual life, with a parade referred to as Ichijo Hyakki Yagyo going down in the town’s Taishogun Shotengai procuring road in April. This parade, which started in 2005, lately bumped into issues after the variety of spectators surged, inflicting organisers to arrange a crowdfunding marketing campaign to assist pay for crowd management. Now, realising the immense reputation of the occasion, the organisers are placing on one other parade at a distinct location that runs for an extended interval, so extra guests will be capable to expertise the fascinating, mysterious great thing about the monster parade.
▼ The occasion is named Kaikai Yokai Sai, which loosely interprets as “Unusual Yokai Competition”.
“Kaikai Yokai Sai” has a whimsical rhyming high quality to it that matches the eerie but endearing vibe of the monster parade. Held at Toei Kyoto Studio Park, this venue offers extra room for the yokai to maneuver, and extra scope to broaden the competition to incorporate numerous occasions.
The principle occasion is, in fact, the parade, which options numerous well-known yokai, together with the uncatchable Nurarihyon, plague-protector Amabie, wedding ceremony dress-wearer Ohaguro Bettari, small river monster Hyosube, three-eyed Yagyodoji, and Tenome, who has its eyes in its palms.
▼ The park has created a sequence of “teaser movies” that includes yokai in some well-known areas round Kyoto to indicate simply how unbelievable they give the impression of being.
The competition will run from 14 September to eight December, with the parade going down at 2:15 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays throughout the occasion interval (excluding 2-3 November). On 14 September, 26 October and eight December, a much bigger procession referred to as The Grand Parade will happen at 2:15 p.m. and seven:30 p.m., with 100 yokai showing.
▼ Yokai will even be wandering across the park throughout the occasion interval, scheduled to look at numerous areas at 10:15 a.m., 11:45 a.m., 2:15 p.m. and three:45 p.m. on weekdays and at 10:15 a.m., 11:45 a.m., 1:15 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 4:45 p.m. on weekends and public holidays, so that you by no means know who you may stumble upon.
Yokai will likely be making an additional look at 5:45 p.m. on 14 September, 26 October, and eight December, and guests who take a photograph with one in all them and publish it on the spot with the hashtags #KaikaiYOKAImatsuri #kyotoyokaifestival, will obtain a sticker to commemorate their new friendship with the yokai. Stickers will even be given to guests who full the “Yokai Transformation Rally“, following directions arrange at numerous areas to “breathe life into an vintage and watch it remodel right into a yokai“, with the assistance of standard GIF animator misato.
▼ Though the unique yokai GIFs are but to be revealed, it is a pattern of misato’s GIF wizardry.
♡♤♢♧ pic.twitter.com/NnVXic6ZrJ
— misato. (@misato08280) July 4, 2024
There’ll even be a group of artwork and movies on show, in addition to yokai-themed meals and souvenirs all through the park for guests to buy throughout the competition. Die-hard yokai fanatics may even take issues up a notch by signing up for one in all two afternoon bus excursions that take guests out to varied yokai-related websites round Kyoto.
▼ The “World of Demons” bus tour.
Full particulars for the bus excursions and competition occasions can be found on the official web site, with much more bonuses like ghost tales and a dressing up contest but to be finalised. There’s undoubtedly quite a bit to see and do on the competition, and by combining it with a sword-fighting ninja or samurai photograph shoot on the studio, it’s a spot you’ll need to dedicate a full day of your itinerary to when visiting Kyoto this autumn.
Supply, photographs: Press launch
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