Jidai Matsuri (Festival of the Ages)
Jidai Matsuri, the Festival of the Ages, is one of Kyoto's three great festivals alongside Aoi Matsuri and Gion Matsuri. It is held annually on October 22, the date on which the city was founded as Heian-kyo in 794, and it was created in 1895 when Heian Jingu was built to mark the capital's 1,100th anniversary. Roughly 2,000 participants in meticulously researched costume walk about 4.6 kilometres from Kyoto Imperial Palace Park along Oike-dori to Heian Jingu, forming a living timeline that runs backwards from the Meiji Restoration to the Heian period. Visitors see armoured warriors, court nobles, ox-drawn carriages and famous women of Kyoto history; the textiles, dyeing, armour and lacquerwork are reproduced by Kyoto craft workshops, which is why the festival is often described as a moving museum of Japanese costume. The procession takes several hours to pass any single point. Paid grandstand seats are sold in advance for the palace and Oike-dori sections, and most of the remaining route is free. Heavy rain postpones the procession to the following day.
Event information
| When | Usually held in late October; check the official site for the latest schedule |
|---|---|
| Where | Kyoto |
| Access | The procession starts at Kyoto Imperial Palace Park, closest to Marutamachi or Imadegawa stations on the Karasuma subway line, and ends at Heian Jingu, a short walk from Higashiyama Station on the Tozai subway line. |
| Schedule status | Check the official site |
| Official information | Open the official site |
Practical tips
- Paid grandstand seats for the Imperial Palace and Oike-dori sections are sold in advance through Kyoto tourism outlets and regularly sell out; free roadside spots fill well before the procession starts.
- The order runs backwards through history, so the Heian-period sections come last at any given viewing point - stay to the end if that is what you came for.
- The Kurama Fire Festival is held on the same date in the mountains north of the city, so many visitors watch the daytime procession and then ride the Eizan Line up to Kurama in the evening.
- October afternoons in Kyoto can still be hot in the sun; bring water and a hat if you are standing on an unshaded stretch of Oike-dori.
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