🏮 Takekari Eshiki

竹伐り会式

Kyoto (鞍馬寺) · Every year on 20 June

Summer festival

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

Takekiri Eshiki is a traditional event held every June at Kurama Temple in Kyoto. At Kurama, a sacred mountain known as the place where Ushiwakamaru trained, it is said to be one of Kyoto's oldest festivals, with a history of over 1000 years. In this event, a green bamboo stalk 4 meters long and 10 centimeters thick is likened to a giant serpent, and Kurama warrior-monks in pairs compete on how fast they can cut the bamboo with mountain swords. The left group is called the Tanba seat and the right the Omi seat, and a monk wearing a Benkei-style headpiece cuts the bamboo through in a single stroke. It once served to divine good or bad harvests in the two regions, and carries the meaning of gratitude for water and a prayer for the defeat of evil and the triumph of righteousness. The dynamic bamboo cutting, which preserves the appearance of warrior-monks to this day, is a powerful sight. It can be viewed at the temple, a 3-minute walk from Kurama Station on the Eizan Electric Railway, and those high school age and older must pay a 500 yen Aizan fee.

Getting there

3-minute walk from Kurama Station on the Eizan Electric Railway (to the main hall is a further 30-minute walk, or 2 minutes by cable car plus a 10-minute walk)