Thank you for following SOWAKA.

We are delighted to invite you to an exclusive Summer Stay Package, created especially for our followers during Kyoto’s most celebrated festival season.

For more than a thousand years, the Gion Matsuri has marked the arrival of summer in Kyoto. Originally established as a prayer to ward off plague, the festival fills the city with towering Yamahoko floats, sacred mikoshi (portable shrines), glowing lanterns, and the sound of traditional festival music. At its heart is the procession of the mikoshi, which departs Yasaka Shrine on the evening of the Saki Matsuri and returns on the evening of the Ato Matsuri, completing the festival’s sacred journey.

SOWAKA invites you to experience this extraordinary tradition with a special two-night stay, available July 16–18 and July 23–25 2026.

On your arrival evening, Yoiyama (the festival eve), wander through lantern-lit streets alive with music and celebration. The following morning, enjoy reserved seats for the magnificent Yamahoko Procession, where Kyoto’s elaborately decorated festival floats—often described as “moving museums of art”—pass before you.

For the Saki Matsuri stay, witness the evening departure of the mikoshi from Yasaka Shrine before returning to SOWAKA for dinner at Gion Loka, followed by a relaxing 70-minute in-room massage.

For the Ato Matsuri stay, unwind with your in-room massage before dinner at Gion Loka. Later that evening, experience the mikoshi’s quiet return to Yasaka Shrine, bringing the festival’s sacred cycle to its close.