• West gate
  • Worship hall
  • Yasaka jinja shrine
  • Gion intersection
  • Cherry blossoms

Yasaka shrine is located at the foot of Higashi-yama, an eastern part of Kyoto City.
“Jinja” means a shrine in Japanese.
Yasaka shrine was originally founded in 876 and its old name was “Gion-sha” which was famous as a god warding off evil spirits, and the adoration to the shrine spread widely all over Japan along with the development of the capital.
Maiko & Geiko in Gion district originated with women who were working at chaya rest houses serving refreshments to people visiting “Gion-sha”.
Gion festival, one of the biggest festivals in Japan, is based on this shrine’s events.
Yasaka shrine’s seasonal events are closely related to the everyday lives of Kyotoites.
Major events or festivals of Yasaka shrine are Hatsu-mode(first visit in January), Setsubun(driving away evil spirits in February), Gion matsuri(in July), and so on.
Its name of the shrine was changed to Yasaka shrine when shrines and Buddhist temples were separated at the time of the Meiji Restoration(1868).

Kyoto, 京都府, Japan