Yasaka Shrine

There are more than 3,000 Yasaka shrines (やさかじんじゃ) across Japan, and the one in Kyoto is their head shrine; as it stands in Gion, it is also known as Gion Shrine (Gion-san). The head shrine is located in Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto, Japan. It is one of the Twenty-Two Shrines and formerly ranked as a kanpei-taisha (imperial shrine of the highest rank); today it is a beppyo shrine of the Association of Shinto Shrines. The head shrine's Gion Matsuri is one of Japan's largest festivals, and the shrine is among the most visited in Kyoto. Founded in 656 CE, it was originally Gion Kanshin-in, affiliated with the Tendai sect's Mount Hiei, and was renamed "Yasaka Shrine" after the separation of Shinto and Buddhism in 1868.