Wondering about things to do in Kyoto in October? The autumn leaves have yet to reach their peak - that's a month away - but the city's already full of color with parades and pageantry.
Start with these five events - they feature sacred vegetables, ritual fire, antiques and a parade that packs centuries of history into a single day. There's also a dragon - because everything's better with a dragon.
Zuiki Matsuri: How to Build a Shrine You Can Eat
When: October 1-5, 2025
Where: Kitano Tenmangu shrine and Nishinokyo Otabisho
October in Kyoto begins with vegetables on a walking tour. Regarded as the first of the old capital's autumn festivals, the Zuiki Matsuri at Kitano Tenmangu shrine is a five-day celebration that gives thanks for the harvest.
The Kyoto calendar is packed with festivals but what makes this one stand out is the Zuiki Mikoshi, a portable shrine decorated with taro stalks (zuiki), eggplants, togarashi peppers and other seasonal produce.
The festival is held in honor of Sugawara no Michizane (845-903), the court scholar, poet and politician who died in exile. After his death, Kyoto was hit by lightning strikes, fires and other calamities attributed to Michizane’s vengeful spirit.
To appease him, he was deified as Tenjin, a god of thunder and storms. Kitano Tenmangu was built in 947 to enshrine him and, over time, he evolved into a deity of agriculture and learning, transforming from feared avenger to venerated protector.
The Zuiki Festival has roots deep in the nearby Nishinokyo area. Originally an ancient parishioners’ festival, it was merged with a ritual in which the deity was paraded through the parishioners’ neighborhoods. What began as a community offering grew into a full-scale festival combining harvest thanksgiving with grand shrine ritual.
The Zuiki Festival unfolds in stages:
- October 1: Leaving Kitano Tenmangu at 1 pm, a procession of phoenix palanquins conveys the deity to the Otabisho (temporary shrine hall) in Nishinokyo. At 4 pm, a sacred dance is performed there.
- October 2-3: The public can view the Zuiki Mikoshi at the Otabisho. At 10 am on October 2, a tea offering is presented at the Otabisho.
- October 4: The highlight of the festival. The main procession leaves the Otabisho at 1 pm, returning the shrine’s deity to Kitano Tenmangu by around 5 pm. The Zuiki Mikoshi sets out earlier, at 12:30 pm.
- October 5: The closing rites, including another dance, are conducted from around 3 pm.
The Zuiki Matsuri is a reminder that faith and community can be built from the simplest of materials. Locally grown grains and vegetables - humble offerings of the season - are handmade into something extraordinary, linking past to present and devotion to daily life.
Seiryu-e: Follow the Blue Dragon
When: 2 pm, October 15, 2025
Where: Kiyomizu-dera
Amid Kyoto’s centuries-old traditions, the Seiryu-e at Kiyomizu-dera is a relative newcomer.
Established in 2000, the festival was launched to commemorate a public unveiling of the temple’s principal image, the Eleven-faced Thousand-armed Kannon, which is shown only once every 33 years. Since then, the Blue Dragon Festival has become an annual event held every spring and autumn.
At the center of the event is the seiryu, an 18m-long dragon made of linen and washi paper, some of which is inscribed with sutras: with each undulation, sacred words are spoken.
The legend behind the festival tells of a dragon - believed to be an incarnation of Kannon, the Goddess of Mercy - that descends each night to drink at a waterfall in the temple grounds.
In the festival, that myth is given life: the dragon winds through the temple then out into the neighborhood, accompanied by conch shells and drums, as well as some fifty participants in elaborate attire.
The pageantry owes much to the artistry of Emi Wada, the Kyoto-born costume designer who designed the dragon and its accompanying costumes. Wada, who won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for Akira Kurosawa’s Ran, also earned international acclaim for her work on Zhang Yimou’s films, Hero and House of Flying Daggers.
The festival offers a rare chance to see costumes that blend cinematic imagination with Kyoto’s traditional craft techniques. Each outfit and headdress was realized with the cooperation and donations of Kyoto artisans, from dyers and weavers to embroiderers and metalworkers.
The Seiryu-e is as much community ritual as it is performance art. In the swirl of incense, the rippling of dragon coils and the flash of Oscar-worthy costumes, the festival shows how a willingness to create new traditions can spring from reverence for the past.
Jidai Matsuri: 1,000 Years in 1 Afternoon
When: October 22
Where: Kyoto Imperial Palace to Heian Jingu shrine
October’s crown jewel is the Jidai Matsuri (Festival of the Ages), held annually on October 22, the anniversary of the founding of Kyoto as the imperial capital in 794. Along with Gion Matsuri and Aoi Matsuri, the event ranks among the three most important festivals of the city.
The parade begins at Kyoto Gosho - the Imperial Palace - at 12 pm, where participants assemble in costumes representing 1,000 years of Japanese history. What follows is a four-hour procession that winds through central Kyoto before reaching Heian Jingu shrine at around 2:30 pm. The estimated times for the head of the procession to arrive at the following locations are:
- Karasuma-Marutamachi intersection – 12:30 pm
- Karasuma-Oike intersection – 12:50 pm
- Kawaramachi-Oike intersection – 1:20 pm
- Kawaramachi-Sanjo intersection – 1:30 pm
- Sanjo Ohashi bridge – 1:40 pm
- Sanjo-Jingumichi intersection – 2:10 pm
- Heian Jingu shrine – 2:30 pm
Do note that the procession is long: it takes about two hours for all the performers to pass a single location.
The highlights are as colorful as they are diverse. The Tokugawa shogun’s entourage makes a grand appearance with porters carrying chests in a style that's almost dance-like. Their swaying movements recall the pomp of Edo-period processions where even transporting baggage became part of the spectacle.
Adding liveliness are the Furyu Odori performers, who present a popular folk dance once seen in the streets of Kyoto. Believed to be the forerunner of the bon odori, the dance recalls the festive spirit of the city’s common people.
Look out for the female participants in the Heian period section: among them are geiko and maiko from the geisha districts of Kyoto.
Particularly striking is the figure of Tomoe Gozen, a legendary female warrior of the late Heian period. Famous for her role in the Genpei War, she appears in armor and carrying a halberd as she rides a white horse.
For spectators, Jidai Matsuri is both a visual feast and a moving museum - a way to watch centuries walk by. Tickets are available for reserved seating along the route, but even standing roadside gives a sense of Kyoto’s storied past.
Kurama Fire Festival: Torches in the Mountain Night
When: Evening of October 22
Where: Yuki Shrine, Kurama
If Jidai Matsuri represents Kyoto’s daylight record, Kurama no Hi Matsuri - the Kurama Fire Festival - is its night memory. Held in the tiny mountain village of Kurama, north of the city, the event takes place on the same day as the history parade - October 22 - but is of an entirely different character.
The festival traces its origins back more than a thousand years. In 940, the capital was shaken by a series of disasters, including a major earthquake and rebellion. Seeking peace for the nation, Emperor Suzaku transferred the deity Yuki Daimyojin, then enshrined in the Imperial Palace, to Kurama.
The relocation ceremony was conducted on a grand scale, with torches fashioned from river reeds and bonfires lighting the route north. The procession is said to have stretched nearly one kilometer.
Deeply moved by this ritual, the people of Kurama preserved its memory, passing it down in what has become the Kurama Fire Festival.
Today, the festival includes a procession in which participants carry enormous pine torches, some weighing over 80 kg, to Yuki Shrine. The night pulses with fire, smoke and sparks, echoing the grandeur of the original imperial ceremony.
To witness the festival is to understand Kyoto not only as a city of refinement but also as one shaped by raw elemental forces.
Do note, however, that the event draws large crowds and the narrow mountain roads can be challenging. Arrive early and remember the time that the last train leaves.
Kyoto Antique Fair: A Market of Memories
When: October 24-26, 2025
Where: Kyoto Pulse Plaza, south of Kyoto Station
Not every October highlight involves processions. The Kyoto Antique Fair, held three times a year at Pulse Plaza, gathers hundreds of vendors from across Japan offering everything from samurai swords to vintage kimonos, from ceramics to Buddhist relics.
With treasures spread across two floors, it's the biggest market of its kind in western Japan.
Wandering through the fair is like rummaging through Kyoto’s attic: you might stumble on a bowl once owned by a tea teacher or a woodblock print that once adorned a merchant’s home. For collectors and the casually curious alike, it’s among the most enjoyable things to do in Kyoto this month.
A Month of Harvest and History
From the farm produce artistry of Zuiki Matsuri to the grandeur of Jidai Matsuri and the energy of the Kurama Fire Festival, Kyoto in October is a tapestry of contrasts.
Sitting between the lingering warmth of summer and the cold nights of November, this month is a time when devotion and spectacle intertwine under the bright autumn sky and where every celebration seems to involve a parade of some kind.
Even before you've experienced the city in every season, you may decide - quite easily, in fact - that October must really be your favorite Kyoto month.
By Janice Tay