Kuga Shrine Shinkosai Festival

The autumn festival of Kuga Shrine in Shichiku, an auxiliary shrine of Kamigamo Shrine. Every 3 November at noon, three mikoshi portable shrines set off from the shrine and tour the parish neighbourhoods of Shichiku and Omiya. The shrine enshrines Kamotaketsunumi-no-mikoto, maternal grandfather of Kamigamo's deity Kamowakeikazuchi, and on 1 November the autumn rite includes leading Kamigamo's sacred horse Kozan-go. The Shinkosai on the 3rd is the finale. It is a chance to see a Kamigamo Shrine rite out on the streets of a residential neighbourhood.

Kuga Shrine is one of Kamigamo Shrine's auxiliary shrines, standing in a small grove in Shichiku that is the last remnant of the forest once known as Kuga no Mori. It enshrines Kamotaketsunumi-no-mikoto, the maternal grandfather of Kamigamo's main deity, who in legend took the form of the three-legged crow Yatagarasu to guide Japan's first emperor, Jimmu, which is why he is revered as a guardian of travel and aviation. In early November the shrine gives thanks for the autumn harvest: on the 1st Kamigamo's sacred horse is led before the deity, and on the 3rd three mikoshi carry the deity out at noon to tour the neighbourhoods it protects. Visitors can watch the mikoshi pass along the streets of Shichiku and Omiya.