Page 247 - Edo: Art in Japan, 1615–1868

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Attributed to Yokoyama Kazan
(1784-1837)
Gion Festival
Two handscrolls; ink and color on silk
Each 31.7 x 1487 (1272 x sSsVs)
246 Private Collection, Tokyo
• In this late Edo representation of
the celebrated Gion Festival the
viewer travels through the streets of
Kyoto experiencing the festival floats,
the related temples and shrines, and
the riverside pleasure areas (depicted
in ink to suggest night). Emphasis is
on distinctive features of the festival,
such as the procession of men in
bizarre costumes. Clouds and mist
conceal a substantial part of the
scene, reminding the viewer that the
festival comes at the end of the rainy
season. The floats are all precisely
rendered so that each may be distin-
guished one from the other; many
are wrapped in the elaborate bro-
cades and tapestries produced in the
Nishijin district in northwest Kyoto.
These expensive brocades proudly
display the wealth of the circle
of patrons who support each float.
Handscrolls such as these would not
be displayed in one's house but would
be offered to a visitor to unroll slowly
and reroll, evoking the memory of
the festival and the midsummer sea-
son in which it takes place. Their
portability also made them appropri-
ate to carry home to one's village
far from Kyoto, there occasionally to
reminisce over one's visit to the
legendary Gion Festival.
Yokoyama Kazan was a member of
the Shijo school of Kyoto. Although
these two handscrolls are unsigned,
they are attributed to Kazan on the
basis of style. RTS