京都の夏の風物詩「祇園祭」が本番へ　7月10日から14日にかけて「山鉾」が次々と組み立てられ、17日には前祭の23基が京都の町を巡行する　千年以上の歴史を持ち、東京の神田祭・大阪の天神祭と並ぶ日本三大祭りの一つで、「山鉾行事」は2009年にユネスコの無形文化遺産に登録されている

Welcome to Japanese Daily News. I'm Maya. Today is July fifteenth. In Kyoto, one of Japan's most famous festivals, the Gion Festival, is reaching its peak this month, and its giant floats have just been built. Let's listen.

Now let's break it down, sentence by sentence.

In Kyoto, a festival very famous in Japan, the Gion Festival, is being held.

It means famous or well-known.

The Gion Festival is the festival of Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto.

It means a shrine, a place of the Shinto religion.

Along with the Kanda Festival in Tokyo and the Tenjin Festival in Osaka, the Gion Festival is one of Japan's three great festivals.

It means to line up, or here, to rank alongside.

This festival's history is very old; it began more than a thousand years ago.

It means history.

It's said the festival began long ago, when illness spread in Kyoto, with people wishing for the sickness to go away.

It means to wish or to pray for something.

The floats were assembled from July tenth through the fourteenth.

It means to assemble or put together.

They are made without using a single nail, tying the wood together with thick rope.

It means to use.

These float events were registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in two thousand nine.

It means registration, being officially placed on a list.

Let's listen to the whole story one more time.

Time for a short quiz. Listen and try to answer.

It's the festival of Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto.

They are made without using any nails.

Twenty-three floats go around the town.

That's all for today. In Kyoto, the famous Gion Festival is at its height. Its giant floats, built with rope and not a single nail, were finished from the tenth through the fourteenth, and on the seventeenth twenty-three of them will parade through the city. It's one of Japan's three great festivals, with over a thousand years of history. Thanks for listening, and see you tomorrow.