People carry the "Niwatori Hoko" float during one of the main parades of Shinto's Gion Matsuri festival in Kyoto, western Japan, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Fred Mery)

The top of a festival float is seen during one of the main parades of Shinto's Gion Matsuri festival in Kyoto, western Japan, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Fred Mery)

Musicians are seen atop a festival float during one of the main parades of Shinto's Gion Matsuri festival in Kyoto, western Japan, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Fred Mery)

A geiko, a regional word for geisha, and a maiko watch festivalgoers pass by during one of the main parades of Shinto's Gion Matsuri festival in Kyoto, western Japan, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Fred Mery)

A festival float passes through a narrow street during one of the main parades of Shinto's Gion Matsuri festival in Kyoto, western Japan, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Fred Mery)

A geiko, a regional word for geisha, and a maiko watch one of the main parades of Shinto's Gion Matsuri festival in Kyoto, western Japan, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Fred Mery)

A giant festival float is paraded through a cheering crowd during one of the main parades of Shinto's Gion Matsuri festival in Kyoto, western Japan, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Fred Mery)

Festival participants carry Yasaka Shrine's Eastern Mikoshi back into the shrine's main hall following the "Mikoshi Arai" purification ritual ahead of the Gion Matsuri festival in Kyoto, western Japan, Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Fred Mery)