In the early-festival phase of the Gion Matsuri (Saki Matsuri) held each July in Kyoto, the float Hakurakuten Yama tells a story both simple and profound. Its narrative centres on the Chinese Zen master Dōrin (also called Daolin) and the Tang-dynasty poet Bai Juyi (called Hakurakuten in Japanese).
What the float depicts:
The Zen master Dōrin sits in a pine tree — a quirky image of Zen eccentricity — and when asked “What’s the essential meaning of Buddhist teaching?” he answers: “Commit no evil, do good deeds!” The poet replies: “Even a three-year-old knows this!” Dōrin’s riposte: “A three-year-old may know it, but even eightyyear-olds can’t always do it.”
The float’s crest is a tall pine tree, said to be the tallest among the smaller yama floats.
Why it matters:
This float is a reminder that deep wisdom is not found in grand words but in persistent doing. Amid the music, colour and crowds of the festival, Hakurakuten Yama offers a moment of reflection: the challenge of turning knowing into living.
For visitors walking by the floats during Saki Matsuri, spotting Hakurakuten Yama invites you to pause, look up at the pine, watch the figures, and feel how this story of Zen teaching becomes part of Kyoto’s living tradition.
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