The Zuiki Festival, a festival to give thanks for the autumn harvest at Kitano Tenmangu Shrine (Kamigyo Ward, Kyoto City), began on October 1, 2024. A Zuiki portable shrine made of colorful vegetables and flowers was placed at a temporary shrine near Kitano Junior High School in Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto City, where worshippers put their hands together in prayer.
The festival is said to have roots in the Heian period, and is currently run by local residents such as the Nishinokyo Zuiki Mikoshi Preservation Society. In keeping with the festival's name, the portable shrine is roofed with taro stalks, called "zuiki," and is decorated with vegetables such as red eggplant and Japanese ginger, as well as grains and flowers.
On the first day, there is a Shinko Festival, and a procession departs from Kitano Tenmangu Shrine around 1:00 p.m. More than 100 parishioners, including the "Ho-ren" carrying the spirit of the enshrined deity, Sugawara no Michizane, arrived at the Otabisho after about two hours, where the Zuiki Mikoshi welcomed them.
The Zuiki Mikoshi will be placed at the Otabisho until October 3rd and is open to the public to see. On October 4th, the Kankosai festival, it will be paraded through the parishioners' area. The festival will continue until October 5th.
