Kikusui Hoko Ocha-seki of Gion Matsuri

The information of Kikusui Hoko Ocha-seki is presented here. Kikusui Hoko Ocha-seki is held every year from July 13th to July 16th. In Kikusui Hoko Ocha-seki, Japanese sweet “Shitatari” is served, which is derived from Chigo doll of Kikusui Hoko, which represents the dancing figure of “Kikujido (Makurajido)”, who drank the dew of the amagiku (chrysanthemum flower) and is said to have maintained a long life of 700 years.

• Kikusui Hoko Ocha-seki 2024 Schedule
• Kikusui Hoko Ocha-seki map ＆ access
• Kikusui Hoko Ocha-seki brief overview

【Kikusui Hoko Ocha-seki 2024 Schedule (confirmation required)】

Kikusui Hoko Ocha-seki 2024 will be held in the afternoon from Saturday, July 13th to Tuesday, July 16th, 2024.
●Gion Matsuri Festival 2024 will start on July 1st, 2024 and end on July 31st, 2024.
Gion Matsuri Festival Schedule (July 1st-31st)

【Kikusui Hoko Location Map ＆ Directions】

Address: Kikusuihoko-cho, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan
Access (How to get there): Subway Shijo Station (about 8 minutes on foot), Hankyu Karasuma Station (about 6 minutes on foot)

【Kikusui Hoko Ocha-seki of Gion Matsuri brief overview】

Kikusui Hoko Ocha-seki (菊水鉾お茶席) of Gion Matsuri Festival (祇園祭) is held every year from July 13th to July 16th. Kikusui Hoko Ocha-seki is held in honor of the tea master Takeno Juou, who was the teacher of Sen no Rikyu and was the owner of the Daikoku-an, where the famous “Kikusui-i well” is located, which is also the origin of the name Kikusui Hoko.Kikusui Hoko Ocha-seki is held in the service of the Omote-Senke, Ura-Senke, and Enshu-ryu schools. In Kikusui Hoko Ocha-seki, Japanese sweet “Shitatari” is served, which is derived from Chigo doll of Kikusui Hoko, which represents the dancing figure of “Kikujido (Makurajido)”, who drank the dew of the amagiku (chrysanthemum flower) and is said to have maintained a long life of 700 years. By the way, “Shitatari” is amber agar made with brown sugar. Also, it seems that at Kikusui Hoko Ocha-seki, you can take home the plate with sweet on it. (Confirmation required)

★The Omote-Senke school is one of the tea ceremony schools and one of the San-Senke (Omote-Senke, Ura-Senke, and Mushanokoji-Senke). The Omote-Senke school is the main branch of the Senke-style tea ceremony founded by Sen no Rikyu, and was founded by Koshin Sosa, the third son of Rikyu’s grandson Sen Sotan, who inherited “Fushin-an (tea room)” built by Sen no Rikyu.
★The Ura-Senke school is one of the tea ceremony schools and one of the San-Senke (Ura-Senke, Omote-Senke, and Mushanokoji-Senke). The Ura-Senke school was founded by Senso Soshitsu, the last child of Rikyu’s grandson Sen Sotan, who inherited “Konnichi-an (tea room)” built by Sen Sotan. Ura-Senke was named because “Konnichi-an (tea room)”, is located behind “Fushin-an (tea room)” of Omote-Senke, when viewed from the street.
★The Enshu-ryu school is one of the samurai tea ceremony schools. The Enshu-ryu school originated from Kobori Enshu (Kobori Masakazu), who studied the tea ceremony under the tea master Furuta Oribe. Enshu-ryu school is a tea style of “Kire Sabi (beautiful Sabi)”, which adds Kobori Enshu’s unique aesthetic sense to the introspective “Wabi” and “Sabi”.
★The origin of Kikusui Hoko (Kikusui Boko) is not clear. In the “Gionshaki (Records of Yasaka Shrine)”, which describes the names of Yamahoko floats and places in the middle of the Muromachi period (1336-1573) before the Onin War (1467-1477), it is written as “Kikusui Hoku (between Nishikikoji and Shijo)”, and Kikusui Hoko is said to have already been founded before the Onin War. Kikusui Hoko is derived from the famous “Kikusui-i well”, which was located in the Daikoku-an of Takeno Juou, a tea master and teacher of Sen no Rikyu, in the town in the late Muromachi period (1333-1573). It is said that Takeno Juou came to Kyoto at the age of 24, studied the classical literature and renga (poetry) with Sanjonishi Sanetaka, and tea ceremony with Fujita Sori and others, and built the Daikoku-an in search of “Kikusui-i well”, where he lived until he returned to Sakai Osaka at the age of 36. Takeno Juou created “Wahishiki”, which further simplified “Wabi-cha of yojohan (four and a half tatami)”. Kikusui Hoko was destroyed in Dondon-yake (Genji Great Fire) in 1864 at the end of the Edo period (1603-1868), and was revived in 1952 for the first time in 88 years, and participated in Yamahoko-Junko (Float Procession, Yamaboko Parade) with a temporary Yamahoko float, and a completion ceremony was held in 1953, and Kikusui Hoko returned to Yamahoko-Junko (Float Procession, Yamaboko Parade).

【Kikusui Hoko Ocha-seki of Gion Matsuri remarks】
*Events may be rescheduled or cancelled. Also, the content of the event may have changed.
祇園祭2025日程一覧（宵山屋台・山鉾巡行・・・）