Kyoto Prefecture has decided to hold a large-scale tea ceremony at Kitano Tenmangu Shrine (Kamigyo Ward, Kyoto City) in the fall of 2025, in honor of the Kitano Daichayu, held by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1587 and attended by Sen no Rikyu, Imai Sokyu, and others. The aim is to promote tea culture both domestically and internationally in conjunction with the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo.
Kyoto Prefecture has set out 11 priority projects, including the Keihanna Expo to be held in Kansai Culture and Academic Research City, to attract visitors to Yumeshima, Osaka City, where the Expo will be held. One of these projects is the promotion of tea culture, entitled the Kyoto Whole Tea Exposition.
The Kitano Daichayu held by Hideyoshi is said to have featured not only the Golden Tea Ceremony, but also tea ceremonies by Sen no Rikyu and others, and entertained a wide range of people regardless of their social status. In 1886, a tea offering ceremony was held to commemorate the 300th anniversary, and in 1936, the "Showa Kitano Grand Tea Ceremony" was held to commemorate the 350th anniversary, and it is said that more than 2,000 people from all over Japan attended on the first day alone.
This time, a pre-opening tea ceremony will be held at Kitano Tenmangu Shrine on November 10th of this year, just five months before the Expo. During the Expo period (April 13th to October 13th, 2025), the project will be linked to tea ceremonies and Tsukigama tea ceremonies held throughout the prefecture, and momentum will be gauged throughout Kyoto Prefecture. Other events include tea picking, tea utensil making, and tea and sweets making experiences.
At the tea ceremony to be held at Kitano Tenmangu Shrine in the fall of 2025 to conclude the various projects, a re-enactment of the Kitano Grand Tea Ceremony held by Hideyoshi and an exhibition of tea utensils used at the time are also being considered. The plan is to include approximately 20 million yen in related expenses in the general account supplementary budget proposal to be presented at the September regular session of the prefectural assembly, scheduled to open on September 12.
In addition, to help elementary, junior high, and high school students become familiar with tea, schools will be linked with countries exhibiting pavilions at the expo, and tea ceremonies will be held to entertain visitors from overseas, promoting international exchange. Interested schools will be recruited in the future. University students in Kyoto Prefecture will be involved in product development of sweets using tea and proposing new ways to enjoy tea.
