[Yasui Konpira Shrine] is famous nationwide as a shrine for severing bad ties and fostering good ones. The shrine’s principal deity, Emperor Sutoku, renounced all worldly desires and devoted himself to spiritual retreat at Kotohira Shrine in Sanuki—where he had been exiled after his defeat in the Hōgen Rebellion—which is why the shrine came to be known as a place for severing all karmic ties and bad connections.
Starting around Monday, June 15, “hitogata” (paper dolls) are distributed to help people transfer their impurities onto them.

[Summer Purification Ritual] Tuesday, June 30, 6:00 p.m.

Kitano Tenmangu is the head shrine of the approximately 12,000 Tenmangu and Tenjin shrines nationwide dedicated to Lord Sugawara no Michizane (known as “Lord Suga”). On June 25, the anniversary of Lord Sugawara’s birth, a private Shinto ritual (closed to the public) is held, and a “large straw ring” with a diameter of about 5 meters—said to be one of the largest in Kyoto—is installed at the Romon Gate. Within the shrine grounds, small “chigaiwa” rings, about 7 to 8 centimeters in diameter, are distributed to ward off misfortune and disasters.

[Great Purification Ritual] Tuesday, June 30, 4:00 p.m. (Passing through the straw ring after the ritual)

[Heian Jingu] was founded during the Meiji era to commemorate the 1,100th anniversary of the relocation of the capital to Heian. In December 2025, the repainting of the shrine buildings and the Daigokuden Hall—which had been underway in conjunction with the 130th anniversary of Heian Jingu—was completed, restoring the shrine to its vibrant former glory.
The Chinowa will be set up at the Otenmon Gate—the main gate facing south—starting on Sunday, June 14.

[Summer Solstice Purification Ceremony] Tuesday, June 30, 4:00 p.m. –

Fushimi Inari Taisha is the head shrine of the approximately 30,000 Inari shrines said to exist nationwide. Boasting a history of over 1,300 years, it is revered as a deity that brings bountiful harvests, business prosperity, and household safety. During the Great Purification Ceremony on Tuesday, June 30, the Chief Priest, along with other priests, Kagura dancers, and attendees, will pass through the “chigaiwa” (a ring made of rushes) set up on the shrine grounds to purify themselves of sins and impurities.

[Minazuki Grand Purification Ceremony] Tuesday, June 30, 3:00 p.m. –

[Yasaka Shrine] enshrines “Susanoo-no-Mikoto,” who has long been revered as a deity who wards off all calamities, as its principal deity. The Gion Festival, one of Japan’s Three Great Festivals, is a festival held at this shrine that began in the Heian period with prayers for the end of epidemics. On the day before the one-month Gion Festival begins, the Great Purification Ritual is performed to purify people of the sins and impurities accumulated over the past six months.

[Great Purification Ceremony] Tuesday, June 30, 3:00 p.m. –