Jidai Matsuri

An apprentice geisha, or maiko, dressed in Heian period costume at Jidai Matsuri.

The Jidai Matsuri, or Festival of Ages, is one of Kyoto's most famous festivals, along with Aoi Matsuri and Gion Matsuri. Held on October 22, it commemorates Emperor Kammu's decision to move the capital of his Empire from Nara to Kyoto on the same day in the year 794.

Chinese influence.

Originally instituted to raise Kyoto's moral after the loss of the capital and Imperial Court to Tokyo in 1868, it begins with the mikoshi (portable shrines) of the first and last Kyoto emperors being carried to the Old Imperial Palace, followed by a 5 hour long procession of approximately 2000 Kyoto natives dressed in lavish, period costumes representing styles from throughout Kyoto's history, beginning with the modernized soldiers of the Meiji era, corresponding with the end of the Kyoto capital in 1868, all the way back to the founding of the capital, during the Heian period.

A geisha laughs as she plays with a young girl.

A young girl dressed as a child of the Heian court.

An apprentice Geisha, or maiko, seeking refuge beneath the veil of her Heian period costume.

A maiko and geiko chat while an older geisha in the background watches a young maiko take a quit shot with her ketai, or mobile phone.

Tomoe-Gozen was the wife of General Kiso Yoshinaka. She fought courageously alongside her husband in battle, one of the few examples of a true female samurai in japanese history.

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