The Seasons

季節のイベント

Kyoto rearranges itself four times a year. What is worth seeing depends entirely on when you happen to be here.

季節ごとの行事をまとめています。

Dates shift slightly year to year, and blossom and maple timings move with the weather. Check the official Kyoto tourism site before planning around any single event.

日程は年により変動します。桜と紅葉の見頃も天候次第です。京都観光Naviで最新情報をご確認ください。

Kyoto City official tourism site ↗京都観光Navi ↗

Spring — March to May

春（3〜5月）

Cherry blossom usually peaks in the first week of April, but the window is short — a week of full bloom, then a week of petals coming down, which many people prefer.

桜の見頃は例年4月上旬。満開は1週間ほどです。

Cherry blossom along a canal in Kyoto — Blossom over the water. The whole season lasts about two weeks.桜の季節は正味2週間ほどです。

Cherry blossom along the Shirakawa canal in Gion — Shirakawa, ten minutes away — smaller and quieter than Maruyama.白川。徒歩10分。円山公園より静かです。

The pagoda at Kiyomizu-dera with cherry blossom — Kiyomizu in blossom. Arrive at six and it is yours.桜の清水寺。6時の開門と同時なら人がいません。

Maruyama Park	円山公園	12 min. The great weeping cherry, lit at night. Crowded, festive, food stalls.	徒歩12分。祇園しだれ桜のライトアップ。屋台が出ます。
Shirakawa Canal	白川	10 min. Blossom over a narrow canal and stone bridges. Smaller, quieter, better.	徒歩10分。石橋と桜。規模は小さいですが静かです。
Kamo River banks	鴨川	2 min. Rows of cherry trees along the water, free and open all hours.	徒歩2分。川沿いの桜並木。
Philosopher's Path	哲学の道	Two kilometres of blossom along a canal. Go at breakfast time.	約2kmの桜並木。早朝がおすすめです。
Kyo Odori	京おどり	The spring dances of Miyagawa-cho — the district that begins at the end of our lane. Usually early April.	宮川町の春の公演。例年4月上旬。
Miyako Odori	都をどり	Gion Kobu's celebrated dance performances, usually running through April. Book ahead.	祇園甲部の公演。例年4月。前売券をご用意ください。

Summer — June to August

夏（6〜8月）

Hot and very humid, with a rainy season through most of June. It is also the season of the city's biggest festival, and of eating dinner on a platform over a river.

6月は梅雨、7〜8月は高温多湿です。祇園祭と納涼床の季節です。

July — right outside the door

7月 — この家のすぐ外で

Gion Matsuri

祇園祭

One of the great festivals of Japan, running the whole of July, centred on Yasaka Shrine ten minutes from here. It began in 869 as a rite to end an epidemic and has been repeated ever since. The charm hanging by our door comes from it.

八坂神社を中心に7月いっぱい行われます。869年、疫病退散の御霊会として始まりました。玄関の粽はこの祭のものです。

Yoiyama — the evenings before each procession. Floats lit with lanterns, streets closed to traffic, old townhouses opening their doors. This is when the protective charms are sold.
宵山：巡行前夜。駒形提灯が灯り、歩行者天国になります。粽の授与もこの期間です。
Yamahoko Junko — the procession of the great floats, some as tall as a building, hauled by teams and turned at the corners on split bamboo. Held on 17 and 24 July.
山鉾巡行：7月17日（前祭）と24日（後祭）。辻回しが見どころです。

It will be crowded and extremely hot. Go in the evening, carry water, and abandon any timetable.

大変混雑し、高温になります。水分をお持ちください。

Yamahoko floats in the Gion Matsuri procession — The procession. Some floats are the height of a building, turned at the corners by teams hauling on ropes.山鉾巡行。辻回しが見どころです。

Kawadoko dining platforms over the Kamo River — Kawadoko — dinner on a platform over the river, May to September. Two minutes away.納涼床。5〜9月、徒歩2分。

The Daimonji bonfire on the hillside — Gozan Okuribi, 16 August — fires lit on five hillsides to see the dead on their way.五山送り火。8月16日。

Summer fireworks — Fireworks displays run through the summer across the Kansai region.夏は関西各地で花火大会が開かれます。

Kawadoko dining	納涼床	May to September. Restaurants along the Kamo River build wooden terraces out over the water and serve dinner on them. Two minutes away. Book ahead.	5〜9月。鴨川沿いの店が川面に床を張ります。徒歩2分。要予約。
Gozan Okuribi	五山送り火	16 August. Five giant characters and shapes burned into the hillsides around the city to see the spirits of the dead on their way. Twenty minutes, and unforgettable.	8月16日。五山に送り火が灯ります。
Mitarashi festival	みたらし祭	Late July. Wading barefoot through the cold spring water at Shimogamo Shrine, carrying a candle. Strange and lovely.	7月下旬、下鴨神社。御手洗池を歩く足つけ神事。

Autumn — September to November

秋（9〜11月）

The best weather of the year and, in late November, the heaviest crowds. Maple colour usually peaks in the second half of November.

気候は最も穏やかですが、11月下旬は年間で最も混雑します。紅葉の見頃は11月後半が中心です。

Autumn illumination at Kodai-ji — Kodai-ji lit after dark — fifteen minutes on foot, the closest of the famous autumn illuminations to this house. 高台寺のライトアップ。徒歩15分。この宿から最も近い紅葉の名所です。

Kodai-ji	高台寺	15 min. Evening illuminations in autumn — the closest of the famous ones to this house.	徒歩15分。秋の夜間特別拝観。この宿から最も近い名所です。
Tofuku-ji	東福寺	15 min by train. Arguably the finest maples in Kyoto, and consequently a queue.	電車で15分。京都屈指の紅葉。行列ができます。
Eikan-do	永観堂	Famous for maples for over a thousand years. Night illuminations.	古来「もみじの永観堂」。ライトアップあり。
Kiyomizu-dera	清水寺	20–25 min on foot. Special evening openings in autumn, with a beam of light thrown up over the city.	徒歩20〜25分。秋の夜間特別拝観。
Jidai Matsuri	時代祭	Usually 22 October. A procession in period costume covering twelve centuries of Kyoto history, walking from the Imperial Palace to Heian Shrine.	例年10月22日。京都御所から平安神宮への時代行列。

Winter — December to February

冬（12〜2月）

Cold — the kind that comes up through the floor — and the quietest, cheapest, emptiest season. If you dislike crowds, this is when to come.

底冷えしますが、一年で最も静かな季節です。

Snow along the Shirakawa canal in Gion — **Snow lasts hours, not days.** If you wake to it, drop your plans and go out — this is Shirakawa, ten minutes from the door. **積雪は数時間で消えます。**雪の朝は予定を変えてでも出かけてください。写真は白川、徒歩10分。

Snow falling on a Gion street — Gion in snow — the streets outside this door.雪の祇園。この宿のすぐ外です。

A snow-covered shrine approach lined with lanterns — Worth the trip out of town when it settles.積もった日は少し足を延ばす価値があります。

Snow	雪景色	Kyoto gets a handful of snowfalls a year, rarely lasting a day. If you wake to snow, drop everything and go — Kinkaku-ji under snow is the image on every calendar, and Kiyomizu is nearer.	年に数回、積雪があります。雪の朝は予定を変更してでも出かける価値があります。
Hatsumode	初詣	New Year shrine visits. Yasaka Shrine, ten minutes away, is open through the night on 31 December and packed until dawn.	八坂神社は大晦日から終夜開いています。徒歩10分。
Okera Mairi	をけら詣り	New Year's Eve at Yasaka Shrine. People carry home a lit rope cord to start the year's first fire. Right on your doorstep.	大晦日の八坂神社。をけら火を火縄に移して持ち帰ります。
Setsubun	節分	Early February. Beans thrown to drive out demons; Yasaka Shrine holds maiko dances and bean-scattering.	2月上旬。八坂神社では舞踊奉納と豆まきが行われます。
Winter special openings	京の冬の旅	Temples that stay shut all year open their doors for a few weeks in winter. Worth checking what is available while you are here.	通常非公開の寺院が特別公開されます。

A New Year ceremony at a Kyoto shrine — Rites and court dances are performed at the shrines through the New Year period. Yasaka Shrine, ten minutes away, stays open through the night on 31 December. 正月には各社で神事や舞楽が奉納されます。八坂神社は大晦日から終夜開いています。徒歩10分。

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