Kitano Tenmangu shrine holds the Zuiki Matsuri festival over 5 days in early October. Sacred palanquins carry the spirit of Sugawara no Michizane, who was a scholar and politician over 1,000 years ago, through the parish to its temporary abode. Residents spend a month festooning one float, that has a 400-year history, with local produce and imbue it with gratitude for an abundant harvest. Discover this festival that retains vestiges of bygone days when the district was a farming area.

February 3 is the Lunar New Year's Eve and is the boundary between winter and spring. Soybeans are scattered for good fortune in the coming year, expelling the demons that represent misfortune and calamity. Yoshida Jinja shrine protects Kyoto at the "demon's gate" in the northeast with a ritual in which the "shaman" wears a four-eyed mask. Discover how Kyotoites pray for a peaceful life.