F E S T I V A L ／ FEST-016

Yasurai Festival (Genmushrine — Plague-Spirit Pacification)

やすらい祭（玄武神社）やすらいまつり

One of Kyōto's Three Great Bizarre Festivals, the Yasurai Festival takes place on the second Sunday of April — precisely the moment when the cherry blossoms are at their most restless, petals detaching and beginning to drift. In the original logic of the ceremony, this drifting was dangerous: the spirits of illness (疫神 — yamai-gami) were understood to ride on the floating blossoms, spreading sickness wherever the petals fell. The Yasurai Festival is the ceremony of persuading those spirits to stay — to settle, to be still, to remain within the flower umbrellas that are raised above the procession. The procession itself is led by figures in red, white, and yellow oni masks, carrying flower-decorated parasols and making a noise specifically designed to attract the illness spirits into the umbrella's shelter, where they can be safely contained. Passing under the flower umbrella is the ceremony's primary act of participation — sheltering under the same parasol as the captured spirits is the mechanism of protection.