🏮 Sui Sai
水祭
Kyoto (Kifune Shrine) · Every year on 7 July
296 days to go
Rooms around Kyoto fill up while the festival is on.
The Kifune Water Festival, held at Kifune Shrine in Kyoto on July 7, is a traditional event giving thanks for the blessing of water. Kifune Shrine is regarded as the head shrine of the roughly 2,000 water deity shrines across Japan, and is a shrine of long history enshrining the god of water, the source of life for all things. This festival derives from ancient rain-praying rites and has been passed down as a Shinto ceremony offering gratitude for abundant water. On the same day, a Tanabata ceremony is also held. The day includes a tea-offering ceremony, a dedication of bugaku (court dance and music), and a ceremonial knife ritual, expressing reverence for the water deity in a solemn atmosphere.
Getting there
6 minutes on foot from the Kyoto Bus "Kifune" bus stop
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