A centuries-old festival brings Shinto traditions and towering floats to the streets

KYOTO (AP) — There’s a special moment when Katsushi Horikawa feels closer to the gods. It comes as he rides atop one of the towering floats pulled through the streets in a centuries-old procession in Japan.This is the Gion Matsuri festival, born more than 1,000 years ago as a ritual to ward off epidemics and celebrated in the former imperial city of Kyoto throughout July.“I am conscious of them when I’m riding on top,” Horikawa said. “When we’re assembling it as well, but I think the main time is when I’m riding on it.”

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