Kamigamo Shrine

Kamigamo Shrine is a Shinto shrine in Kyoto’s Kitayama area, officially named Kamo Wakeikazuchi Shrine. During the era of Emperor Tenmu, the shrine was built by Yamashiro Province, establishing the foundations of its sacred buildings, which have remained largely unchanged to this day. The enshrined deity is Kamo Wakeikazuchi, a thunder god revered since ancient times by agricultural communities as a bringer of the water essential for farming. The shrine is believed to bestow blessings such as protection from misfortune, directional protection, good fortune, and protection from lightning, and it is also revered as a guardian of the electrical industry. After the capital was moved to Heian-kyo, the shrine became a protector deity of the city, and together with Shimogamo Shrine it was granted status second only to Ise Grand Shrine. The shrine grounds are exceptionally vast at about 660,000 square meters, and more than 40 elegant shrine buildings with cypress-bark roofs stand throughout the precincts. During the Aoi Festival on May 15, hollyhock leaves are displayed on the shrine buildings, and festival participants also wear hollyhock. On the day of the festival, a procession in period costumes departs the Kyoto Imperial Palace at 10:30 a.m., performs rituals at Shimogamo Shrine, then proceeds north and arrives at Kamigamo Shrine at 3:30 p.m. Scenes of the Aoi Festival also appear in classical court literature, and in The Tale of Genji, a famous episode depicts a carriage rivalry over viewing spots.