"Yamahoko" floats return to Kyoto after COVID-related break

The Gion festival is one of the highlights of Kyoto's event-packed calendar. It began 1,100 years ago in the Heian period to pray for the end to plagues. It's held every summer throughout the month of July, but the highlight is always the "yamahoko" procession of decorated floats towed through the streets of the city. When those floats need to change direction, they perform what's known as "tsujimawashi", in which the wheels slide on wet bamboo.