Photo/Illutration The view from premium seats during the Gion Festival in Kyoto's Nakagyo Ward on July 17, 2023 (Provided by the Kyoto City Tourism Association)

KYOTO--The chief priest of Yasakajinja shrine threatened to resign from the Kyoto City Tourism Association over its plan to serve alcohol and delicacies to tourists who buy premium seats for the famed Gion Festival.

“The festival is a Shinto ritual to quell diseases,” the chief priest, Akiyoshi Nomura, was quoted as saying. “It’s not a parade or a show to enjoy while drinking alcohol or eating.”

The Gion Festival, one of the three major festivals in Japan, will be held in July in Kyoto.

Nomura is also a director of the Kyoto City Tourism Association, which last year started selling premium viewing seats that allow guests to see the Yamahoko procession up close.

The price for a seat last year was 400,000 yen ($2,530), which included servings of alcoholic beverages and local dishes.

This year, the premium seats, targeted at wealthy domestic or foreign visitors, cost either 150,000 yen or 200,000 yen. The Yamahoko procession is scheduled for July 17, during the first half of the festival.

According to Yasakajinja shrine, located in Kyoto’s Higashiyama Ward, Nomura earlier asked the association not to serve booze or food at the festival and sought a response to his request in spring.

“The chief priest doesn’t oppose the premium seats or the prices for the seats,” an official at the shrine said. “What he is insisting is that he disagrees with people’s attitude of thinking it’s OK to eat or drink while watching the Shinto ritual Yamahoko procession.”

Nomura told the association through another priest on June 6 and 11 that he intended to vacate the director’s post.

“If he continues to be one of the directors of the association, it might look as if he agrees with what the association is doing,” the shrine official said.

An official of the association said that despite Nomura’s stated intention to resign, the tourism organization received a document showing the chief priest has accepted his reappointment as a director.

“We do not desire for him to step down like this. We will first directly ask him what his real intentions are,” the association official said. “If alcoholic drinks are the problem, we will reconsider the menu, and we will be as considerate as possible toward his suggestions.”

(This article was written by Keitaro Nishizaki and Fuka Takei.)

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