The ''Saiō Matsuri'' (斎王まつり) is a 2-day festival held on the first weekend of June in the town of Meiwa, Mie Prefecture in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. The Saiō Matsuri celebrates the town's history of once being an Imperial residence. The festival re-enacts the march of the Saiō and her entourage to the nearby

Ise Shrine The , located in Ise, Mie Prefecture of Japan, is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the solar goddess Amaterasu Ōmikami and the grain goddess Toyouke-hime (Toyouke Omikami). Also known simply as , Ise Shrine is a shrine complex composed of many Shi ...

. The festival consists of over 100 people dressed in spectacular

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

costume, marching down a section of the Ise Kada, the old Ise Pilgrimage road, toward the . 2006 saw the celebration of the 24th annual Saiō Matsuri.

References

Saio Matsuri (Japanese)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saio Matsuri Festivals in Mie Prefecture Festivals in Japan Holidays and observances by scheduling (nth weekday of the month) June observances Saiō

See also

References