Kitano Tenmangu Shrine (Kamigyo Ward, Kyoto City) and Enryakuji Temple (Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture), the head temple of the Tendai sect of Buddhism, recently held the ``Kitano Goryoe'' ceremony at Kitano Tenmangu Shrine. Shinto priests and monks transcended religion and prayed for peace in the world and an end to the coronavirus pandemic.

Monks and Shinto priests leaving the main shrine after the Kitano Goryokai (Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, Kamigyo Ward, Kyoto City)

Kitano Goryo-e was held during the “Kitano Festival,” an imperial festival that began in the Heian period, but it is said to have ceased during the Onin War. It was rebuilt in 2020 for the first time in about 550 years.

Mizuo Jiyoshi (in front of the altar) of Enryakuji Temple holding a memorial service at the main hall of Kitano Tenmangu Shrine (Kamigyo Ward, Kyoto City)

Approximately 20 priests and monks attended the spiritual service held on September 4, 2023, including Kitano Tenmangu Shrine's Chief Priest Juku Tachibana and Enryakuji Temple's Mizuo Jakuyoshi. In front of the approximately 80 parishioners who attended, Chief Priest Tachibana delivered a prayer, and then a memorial service was held with Jun Mizuo as the leader, and there were proclamations and sutra chants. The chief butler of Manshuin Temple (Sakyo Ward, Kyoto City), a Tendai sect temple with close ties to Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, offered a tamagushi.