Uploaded February 2015 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
During the hagi (bush clover) season worshipers at Nashinoki Shrine near the Kyoto Imperial Palace write poetry on pieces of paper and tie them to the numerous bush clover plants on the shrine grounds. A haiku society meets at the shrine before the main festivities in order to compose, but the main attraction of the festival is the variety of performances presented on the main stage over the course of four whole days.
Nashinoki’s Bush Clover Festival offers more than most, presenting a program that includes ikebana flower arrangement, a performance of Ōkura style kyōgen, solo dance performances by several different schools of female dance, bugaku, musical pieces on shakuhachi flute and koto, as well as a kyūdō archery demonstration! Our team had the pleasure to capture some of the highlights of the festival period, and hope you have the chance to drop by and view it for yourself one day. There are not many other places you can treat yourself to such a wide range of cultural theater and arts, and the blooms of the hagi bushes surround the stage in a lush sea of green and red-purple. Sit back and enjoy what the Hagi Matsuri has to offer!
00:23 - Haiku Meeting
00:52 - Ogura School Kyogen Performance
01:08 - Kamigata Dances
01:30 - Koto Performance
01:42 - Flower Offering Ceremony
02:08 - Shakuhachi Flute Performance
02:32 - Bugaku Performance
03:01 - Ogasawara-ryu Archery Demonstration
03:33 - Japanese Tea Ceremony
04:16 - Ashiya Chigusa Doll Exhibit
04:39 - Iaidō Sword Demonstration
05:20 - Kyo-mai Dances
For details and more on this event, check out our website:
discoverkyoto.com/event-calendar/september/hagi-matsuri-nashinoki-shrine
During the hagi (bush clover) season worshipers at Nashinoki Shrine near the Kyoto Imperial Palace write poetry on pieces of paper and tie them to the numerous bush clover plants on the shrine grounds. A haiku society meets at the shrine before the main festivities in order to compose, but the main attraction of the festival is the variety of performances presented on the main stage over the course of four whole days.
Nashinoki’s Bush Clover Festival offers more than most, presenting a program that includes ikebana flower arrangement, a performance of Ōkura style kyōgen, solo dance performances by several different schools of female dance, bugaku, musical pieces on shakuhachi flute and koto, as well as a kyūdō archery demonstration! Our team had the pleasure to capture some of the highlights of the festival period, and hope you have the chance to drop by and view it for yourself one day. There are not many other places you can treat yourself to such a wide range of cultural theater and arts, and the blooms of the hagi bushes surround the stage in a lush sea of green and red-purple. Sit back and enjoy what the Hagi Matsuri has to offer!
00:23 - Haiku Meeting
00:52 - Ogura School Kyogen Performance
01:08 - Kamigata Dances
01:30 - Koto Performance
01:42 - Flower Offering Ceremony
02:08 - Shakuhachi Flute Performance
02:32 - Bugaku Performance
03:01 - Ogasawara-ryu Archery Demonstration
03:33 - Japanese Tea Ceremony
04:16 - Ashiya Chigusa Doll Exhibit
04:39 - Iaidō Sword Demonstration
05:20 - Kyo-mai Dances
For details and more on this event, check out our website:
discoverkyoto.com/event-calendar/september/hagi-matsuri-nashinoki-shrine
![Beautiful Kyoto: Snow Day in Mt. Takao [4K]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NUrhMyYAMsU/mqdefault.jpg "Beautiful Kyoto: Snow Day in Mt. Takao [4K]
Though you have surely seen breathtaking photos of snow-covered Kyoto, a decent snowfall that sticks around is sadly quite rare here in the ancient capital. So when the Discover Kyoto team woke to snow this January, we packed our bags and headed out bright and early to nearby Mt. Takao. Home to three historical temples and overflowing with natural beauty, Mt. Takao is famous for its fall colors… but don’t count this mountain out just because it’s winter! Whether it’s the gorgeous view of icy branches from Kōzan-ji’s hall, the striking scarlet of Saimyō’s bridge, or the snow-covered roofs of Jingo-ji, Mt. Takao is the perfect place to escape the crowds in the city center to enjoy the snow in quiet contemplation as if you were a monk of old.")
![Kyoto Festival: Spring Ogre Purification (Oni Yarai Shinji) [4K]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/S2rP3lPs7XE/mqdefault.jpg "Kyoto Festival: Spring Ogre Purification (Oni Yarai Shinji) [4K]
Setsubun marks the day before spring with various traditions meant to drive away evil spirits/bad luck and cleanse the home and family for the coming year. Shrines and temples around Japan hold special festivals for the public to come together and participate as a community, and several of these festivals are quite famous. One place you can go to take part in Setsubun is Iwashimizu Hachimangū on Mt. Otokoyama in Yawata City just south of Kyoto.
Though Setsubun festivals are commonly held on February 3rd no matter what day of the week the date falls on, Iwashimizu Hachimangū holds their Oni Yarai Shinji (Ogre Banishing Ritual) on the Sunday before in order to allow people of all ages to attend more easily. Held twice on the day at 1pm and then again at 2pm, the Oni Yarai Shinji consists of three main parts: Shinto purification rituals, an attack on the shrine by oni (ogres), and the distribution of fukumame (lucky beans). A procession of shrine priests, priestesses, and related guests make their way to the stage in front of the main sanctuary, where the head priest performs various purification rituals. After using a peach branch bow to symbolically fire arrows in the cardinal direction and this years lucky direction, as well as a purification with a sword made of peach tree branch, four oni, two green and two red, make an appearance. Growling and intimidating the crowds along the way, the oni make a comic assault on the shrine stage only to be dramatically beaten back by beans thrown at them along with shouts of oni yarō (drive out the ogres!). Once the oni make their retreat, the crowds gather with hands reaching out high in the hopes of catching the packets of lucky beans that are then thrown their way.
In addition to the two Oni Yarai Shinji rituals, packets of fukumame and arrows blessed by miko priestesses performing kagura dances can be purchased throughout the day.")
![Kyoto Event: Beautiful Poetry Gathering at Kamigamo Shrine (Kamo Kyokusui no En) [4K]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/SITk6LVYl0Q/mqdefault.jpg "Kyoto Event: Beautiful Poetry Gathering at Kamigamo Shrine (Kamo Kyokusui no En) [4K]
In the style of lavish poetry parties held during the Heian period, Kamigamo Shrine is host to the Kamo Kyokusui no En each year at 13:00 on the second Sunday in April. Based on a particular event from the shrines history, hosted by Priest Shigeyasu in 1182, the Kamo Kyokusui no En is held in a winding stream garden in the shrines southeast grounds, the vibrant spring moss and shrine hall decorated with crimson umbrellas and sprigs of flowers. These days, the event is presided over by the Saiō-dai, a woman representing unmarried imperial princesses who historically served as honorary shrine priestesses. Five poets, four from the Reizei-ke Shigure-tei Bunko organization and one selected by contest submission, arrange themselves along the stream and receive the poetry theme, 2016s being hana wo matsu, (waiting on flowers). As young children guide small boats of sake through the water the poets compose poems and enjoy a drink. The final poems the poets select are later read aloud in chorus in the shrine hall, dedicated to the kami deities.
To see more of Kamigamo Shrine and how to get there, check out our page:
https://www.discoverkyoto.com/places-go/kamigamo-jinja/")
![Places to Go: Iwashimizu Hachimangū [4K]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/VlvfBZVQh_Y/mqdefault.jpg "Places to Go: Iwashimizu Hachimangū [4K]
Located in the neighboring city of Yawata, Iwashimizu Hachimangū is a large shrine complex on top of Mt. Otokoyama that allows visitors to experience nature and Shinto removed from the crowds that can be encountered in Kyoto proper. With a history over a thousand years old, Iwashimizu Hachimangū is one of only four remaining examples of the Hachiman-zukuri architecture style that involves the skillful combination of different structures and their roofs that look from the outside to be wholly separate but are actually a single interior. Featuring colorful wood carvings of flora and fauna, hundreds of stone lanterns and a surprise connection to Thomas Edison, Iwashimizu Hachimangū makes for a delightful trip out of the city.")
