Japan's Gion Matsuri festival: 1,000-year Shinto tradition and towering floats

Japan's Gion Matsuri is one of the world's oldest Shinto festivals, with rituals dating back more than 1,000 years originally intended to ward off epidemics. The celebration features towering, elaborately decorated floats carried through city streets in religious processions. The festival continues to draw large crowds and remains a living expression of Japanese culture and religion.

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