06 · Kagai 04
Kamishichiken
Calm and refined, with a single stone-paved street of teahouses under the shrine's shadow; far fewer tourists than Gion. The Kaburenjo has a garden and hosts an open-air beer garden in summer where geiko and maiko serve.
- Location
- In Kamigyo Ward in north-west Kyoto, on the short street running east from the Kitano Tenmangu shrine gate toward Imadegawa-dori. It is the only kagai away from the city centre, next to the Nishijin weaving district.
- History
- Kamishichiken is Kyoto's oldest kagai. Its official site dates the origin to 1444 (Bun'an 1), when seven teahouses were built from timber left over from the rebuilding of Kitano Shrine to serve pilgrims; the name means 'the upper seven houses'. In 1587 Toyotomi Hideyoshi held his great Kitano tea gathering and, according to the district, granted the teahouses special privileges. The spring Kitano Odori was first staged in 1952 to mark the shrine's 1,050th anniversary festival.
- Dance school
- Hanayagi school (Nihon buyo)
- Theatre
- Kamishichiken Kaburenjo (Kitano Kamishichiken, Kamigyo-ku)
- Crest
- Five linked dango
- Performances
- Kitano Odori — March 20 - April 2 every year
- Kotobukikai — Mid-November
- Kamishichiken Beer Garden — July to early September
- Miyako no Nigiwai (Joint Performance of the Five Kagai) — Late June, one weekend
- Baika-sai (Plum Blossom Festival) open-air tea by Kamishichiken — February 25 every year (the memorial day of Sugawara no Michizane)
- Nearest stations
- City bus stop 'Kitano Tenmangu-mae' (routes 50/51/55/203), about 3 min on foot
- City bus stop 'Kamishichiken'
- Kitano-Hakubaicho Station (Randen / Keifuku Line), about 10 min on foot east along Imadegawa-dori
- Walking notes
- Combine with a visit to Kitano Tenmangu: the kagai street starts just east of the shrine's main approach. Best on the 25th of each month (the shrine's flea market day) or during plum blossom in February.
- Official site
- https://www.maiko3.com/