Latest Events in Kyoto Prefecture(May Updated)

Kyoto Art Fireworks is a large-scale fireworks display held in Kyoto City. It perfectly blends the traditional Japanese art form of fireworks with music, creating a brand-new fireworks entertainment experience. At "Kyoto Art Fireworks," you can enjoy exquisite fireworks crafted by Japan's top pyrotechnicians. Approximately 13,500 fireworks will bloom continuously for 60 minutes, accompanied by captivating music, bringing you a visual and auditory feast. This event marks its fourth time being held at Kyoto Racecourse and its return after two years, promising an even more spectacular "Kyoto Art Fireworks" extravaganza.

The Kyoto Japan Festival, held at Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, blends art, performance, and seasonal beauty. Since its inception, the festival has been dedicated to spreading Japanese culture by fusing contemporary creativity with the shrine's long history. Each festival introduces new collaborative projects while consistently exploring how traditional and modern expressions can merge in the same space. A highlight of the festival is its immersive theatrical project, performed in the Fugetsuden Hall. Recent works are a collaboration between visual artist Mika Ninagawa, the creative team EiM, and the dance company DAZZLE. Their work combines vibrant stage art, dynamic physical movements, and narrative elements, deeply immersing the audience in the performance. The goal is to create an experience closely connected to the shrine environment and subtly changing with the seasons. During the festival, large-scale outdoor art installations are also held in areas such as the Setsugekka Santenen and Plum Garden. These exhibitions typically transform natural elements such as plum blossoms into works of light and shadow art, with colors and atmosphere changing over time. Visitors can leisurely stroll through the gardens, appreciating the artworks that blend seamlessly with their surroundings, rather than observing them from a distance.

To celebrate the museum's 30th anniversary, a circular gallery designed by Tadao Ando, ​​located at the end of the underground passage of the century-old main building—the Oyamazaki Villa—is dedicated to exhibiting Claude Monet's "Water Lilies." This "underground jewel box" (underground gallery) will display all of Monet's works during the museum's 30th anniversary celebrations; these works are among the museum's core collections. This is also the first time in ten years that all eight of the museum's Monet works have been exhibited, including five "Water Lilies" paintings and three Japanese arched bridge paintings. Immerse yourself in Monet's masterpieces, experience the tranquility of this space that blends perfectly with the garden and the surrounding natural environment, and feel the charm of art.

During the Heian period, nobles would hold purification ceremonies at the changing of the seasons to cleanse themselves of sins and impurities. This has now become a traditional custom in Kyoto during the summer, with many believers coming to pray for good health and freedom from disease. Visitors enter the sacred pond within the temple barefoot to pay homage to the god of purification, and then drink the holy water to cleanse their minds and bodies. In front of the main gate, tents for the summer festival are erected along the streets, filled with stalls from famous Kyoto shops, including those selling Mitarashi dango (glutinous rice dumplings drizzled with sweet soy sauce).

Legend has it that the Kannon (Avalokitesvara) of Kiyomizu-dera Temple transforms into a blue dragon, and drinks water from the waterfall within the temple grounds at night. Therefore, the Yaksha (demon) is also worshipped there. This event is held specifically because of this legend, and also to pray for the well-being of those who come to worship. This dancing blue dragon parades from Okuno to the cobblestone streets surrounding Kiyomizu-dera Temple. The blue dragon is considered one of the four sacred guardians of Kyoto. Besides the giant blue dragon, there are men dressed in traditional samurai attire, and the streets are filled with music and spectacular dances. It's truly amazing! Lunar New Year is on March 15th and April 3rd. Autumn is on October 15th, starting at 2:00 PM (2 PM).

The Kyoto International Photography Festival (KYOTOGRAPHIE) is an annual month-long international photography event held in Kyoto every spring. Artists from around the world gather to exhibit in unique spaces not usually open to the public, including traditional Kyoto temples and shrines, famous buildings, and modern galleries. It's an experiential photography festival where you can stroll through the streets of Kyoto and appreciate these exhibitions scattered throughout the city. This year's theme is "EDGE," exploring the "boundaries" and "transitional spaces" that exist between things and society. Fourteen artists from eight countries and regions will participate, including renowned Japanese photographer Daido Moriyama, Anton Corbin, who has been photographing world-famous figures for fifty years, Yves Marchand and Roma Mayfair, who combine artificial intelligence with photographs taken with early photographic equipment, and artists from South Africa. You can view these works at twelve venues in Kyoto, including the Kyoto Municipal Kyocera Museum Main Building, the Kyoto Museum of Culture Branch, the Higashi Honganji Main Gate, the Shigenobu Kaikan, and the Yuhisoi Kodokan.

Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, located in Tenmon, northwest of Kyoto, is a shrine dedicated to Sugawara no Michizane. To mark the 1,125th anniversary of Michizane's death in 2027, the annual festival known as the Hanmantosai, will be held at the Kyoto National Museum. To mark this occasion, the Kyoto National Museum will be holding a special exhibition showcasing a selection of items related to Tenjin worship from across Japan, centered around 17 National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties from Kitano Tenmangu Shrine. For the first time ever, all volumes and scenes from the National Treasure "Kitano Tenjin Engi Emaki (Jokyu Version)" will be on display, along with many other Kitano Tenjin Engi Emaki scrolls, including the Important Cultural Properties "Kōan Version," "Mitsunobu Version," and "Mitsuoki Version," showcasing the legendary birth of Kitano Tenjin. Additionally, through works discovered through research by the Kyoto National Museum and the Kitano Cultural Research Institute, as well as a number of masterpieces handed down at Tenmangu Shrines, Tenjin Shrines, and temples throughout Japan, the exhibition will uncover various aspects of Tenjin worship that have not been discussed much until now, and the important role that these have played in Japanese culture.

This exhibition will showcase approximately 220 masterpieces from the collection of merchant Hara Yasusaburo (1884-1982). Hara came from a family of public works officials in the Hachisuka Domain; his father dealt in indigo, a specialty of Tokushima. His works reflect his aesthetic tastes, retaining the vibrant colors of woodblock prints and still showcasing the spirit of the era. Furthermore, the exhibition also features original works, giving visitors the opportunity to appreciate the brushwork of this ukiyo-e master up close.

The Mifune Festival is a fascinating annual festival held in May in Kyoto's Arashiyama district, which recreates a royal boat party held by the Emperor and the Imperial Court. The Mifune Festival, which recreates a banquet held 1,000 years ago, attracts up to 100,000 visitors each year to admire the elegant sight of a fleet of 20 ships. The bows of the classical boats in the fleet are usually designed as birds or dragons, and some traditional dances, music, and poetry recitations are performed directly on the boats. Although Mifune means three ships in Japanese, it also represents the three arts performed during the festival: Japanese poetry "waka", Chinese poetry "hanshi" and music and dance performances "zogaku".

Taku Mitsuhashi (born in Kyoto in 1987) is a contemporary artist active in the field of Nihonga painting. He is also a full-time lecturer in the Faculty of Fine Arts at Kyoto City University of Arts and participates in the artist collective "Keichōen". The exhibition includes his work "Image Work (Walk and Pause), 2021," which explores the dialogue between tradition and contemporary art through visual language.