Byobu Exhibition (Byobu Matsuri/Gion Festival)

Byobu matsuri is a traditional customary practice where houses in the yamahokocho (neighborhoods with yama or hoko, floats of Gion Festival) open their doors and show byobu (folding screens) that they possess to the public. Though the number of houses that participate in byobu matsuri have decreased due to the decrease in machiya, ten-odd houses still continue this custom. The Sugimoto Residence will exhibit their byobu which have been handed down in the Sugimoto family during the following two periods: The 1st period is three days from July 10, the day those yama and hoko are constructed; the 2nd period is during the yoiyama (the three nights preceding the yamahoko junko parade) of saki-matsuri from July 14 to 16. Notably, the byobu “Autumn Grasses” by Sotatsu Tawaraya will be exhibited during the 2nd period, and the exhibition time will be extended until 9 pm, since the Sugimoto Residence is located in the Yada-cho, the neighborhood that houses the “Hakuga-yama” of saki-matsuri. From 7:30 pm, there will be a lighting of a stone lantern in the garden designated as a National Site of Scenic Beauty and visitors can enjoy the tasteful garden of olden days.