14 July. Yes there's a big parade in Paris, but in Kyoto, the big parade is three days away. The floats are largely finished - @chitaka45 has just posted a video on Instagram with the floats being tested on 13 July -, now it's just fine-tuning the decoration and starting the festival.

I've always been a scaredy-cat for crowds, so a morning walk was a great chance to see the streets occupied by floats and food stands.

It was also a great chance to see some floats up close, such as 船鉾 funeboko, the unique boat-shaped float which traditionally closes the parade. Notice the temporary roof structure and plastic sheeting to protect the tapestries.

Of course, all this is very well organised and mapped out. I've kept the programme from 2016 (Heisei 28) preciously: it shows the parade itinerary and order for the 17th, and the locations of the floats for the days before, the 16th being 宵山 yoiyama, and the 15th is called 宵々山 yoiyoiyama. The 15th would be my last day in Kyôto on my first trip to Japan, so the parade became unfinished business...

I briefly walked around on the evening of the 14th, the day logically known as 宵々々山 yoiyoiyoiyama. The floats were lit up, the bands were playing the traditional festival music... but it was busy! Security was enforcing one-way circulation for pedestrians in most streets!

The term "decorations" is quite inadequate, because what's actually blocking lanes and entire streets around the Shijô-Karasuma intersection is the construction of the festival floats for the parade on the 17th.

By the 12th, the main structures are ready, the gangways are in place, and the top of the yama floats are installed, giving onlookers an idea of just how high these things are going to be.

The music combines flutes, small gongs and drums. Having heard lots of it just walking in the streets near the hotel in 2016, I have strong memories of it, and I'd say it's rather haunting and evocative of that first trip. Unfortunately, I don't have my own quality recording of the typical Gion music, so for illustration, here's someone else's, with their impressions of the build-up to the 2025 festival.