ZUIKI Matsuri is a very famous festival of autumn in Kyoto, originated during the reign of Emperor MURAKAMI from 946 to 967 A.D., when a JININ* who served Sir. MICHIZANE SUGAWARA** brought a wooden statue of Buddha carved by MICHIZANE to KITANO TENMANGU Shrine from Dazaifu, Kyushu. KITANO TENMANGU enshrined the statue and made offerings of vegetables and crops on the altar to express the gratitude for the harvest.
To celebrate the bumper crops of the year, parades with a small and a large MIKOSHI (portable shrines) are conducted around the shrine area. The very eye catching attraction is the roofs of MIKOSHIs all made of ZUIKI, stems of taro, and other dried vegetables. Please come and see ZUIKI Matsuri in pretty KIMONO by YUMEYAKATA, to enjoy the nice day of autumn in Kyoto.
When: Sunday, October 1 to Thursday, October 5, 2017
*Timetable varies on each day. Please check the URL below.
Access from YUMEYAKATA:
Take No.101 bus from Gojo Karasuma, get off at Kitano Tenmangu mae.
Festival URL:
http://kitanotenmangu.or.jp/info/%E6%9C%AA%E5%88%86%E9%A1%9E/news_3.html
JININ*: servant to a god or to a shrine
Sir. MICHIZANE SUGAWARA**: a scholar, litterateur and politician in the beginning of Heian Era. Later he was convicted and exiled to Dazaifu, Kyushu, and then enshrined as the god of KITANO TENMANGU Shrine, the headquarter of more than 12,000 Tenmangu shrines dedicated to his spirit, all over Japan.