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Kamigamo Jinja Review
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Kamigamo Jinja
- Address: Motoyama, Kamigamo, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto
- Category: Religious Sites
- Location: Sakyo-ku
Fodor's Review:
Kamigamo, built along with its sister shrine Shimogamo Jinja in the 8th century by the Kamo family, has always been associated with Kamo Wakeikazuchi, a god of thunder, rain, and fertility. Now the shrine is famous for its Aoi (Hollyhock) Festival, which started in the 6th century when people thought that the Kamigamo deities were angry at being neglected. Held every May 15, the festival consists of 500 people wearing Heian-period costumes riding on horseback or in ox-drawn carriages from the Imperial Palace to Shimogamo Jinja (farther south on the Kamo-gawa) and then to Kamigamo. If you're in town for the festival, arrive at the Imperial Palace park before the festival starts for good photo opportunities. In the courtyard of the temple are two great cones of sand, tate-zuna, known as the twin peaks of heaven; this area is sacred for deities to descend to earth through them. The canal street that leads up to the shrine has many machiya, and some of these elongated town houses are more than 400 years old. To get to the shrine, take Bus 9 north from Kyoto Station or from a stop on Horikawa-dori. Or take the subway north to Kitayama Station, from which the shrine is 20 minutes on foot northwest.
- Cost: Free
- Open: Daily 9–4:30
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