 This festival is said to have started in the 6th century when the Emperor sent his representatives to Shimogamo and Kamigamo Shines to pray from good harvests.The "Saiō Matsuri" is held in the town of Meiwa, Mie Prefecture, on the first weekend of June each year.First held in 1983, it re-enacts the march of the Saiō from her residence at Saikū, to the nearby Ise Shrine.