🏮 Kitano Kencha Sai

北野献茶祭

Kyoto (Kitano Tenmangu Shrine) · Every year on 1 December

Traditional performing arts

78 days to go
Rooms around Kyoto fill up while the festival is on.

The Kenchaso Festival at Kitano Tenmangu Shrine in Kyoto is held on December 1 and is a Shinto ritual connected to the Kitano Daichayu tea gathering that Toyotomi Hideyoshi held in 1587. The Omotesenke Fushin'an school conducts the service, which takes place in the main hall from 10:00 and lasts about an hour. In the ceremony, tea that was offered on November 26 at the Ochatsubo Hoken Hokoku Festival is presented before the deities, carrying on the tea tradition that has continued since Hideyoshi's time. On the day, in addition to the ritual in the main hall, tea seats are set up in the shrine grounds and in Kamishichiken, and in Kamishichiken you can enjoy tea prepared by geisha and maiko. With a paid tea ticket, you can taste tea at various places from 9:00 until around 15:00, and with the haifuku tea ticket (10,000 yen) you can be served at a special seat. It is an event where you can directly experience the history of Tenjin faith and the way of tea.