Seiryū-e｜青龍会

Undertaken for the first time in 2000, Kiyomizu-dera’s Seiryū-e is very new as far as festivals go… But that doesn’t make it any less interesting!  In fact, it has a certain new flair and fashionable charm that makes it stand out in the city of tradition. 

The Blue Dragon festival was created to honor Seiryū, one of four divine god-beasts said to guard Kyoto’s borders against encroaching misfortune and disaster.  Seiryū is in charge of the eastern border, and so Kiyomizu-dera, nestled at the base of the eastern Higashiyama mountain range, is considered its base of operations of sorts, since there is an old legend that tells of a dragon who would come to Kiyomizu-dera to drink from the sacred Otowa no Taki waterfall on its precincts. 

Considering Seiryū one of the incarnations of Kannon, the Buddhist goddess of mercy and compassion, the monks and members of the Monzen-kai shopping street group come together to form a dynamic procession that starts out from the temple and parades around the neighborhood before returning.  The famous costume designer Emi Wada (Ran, Hero, House of Flying Daggers) designed the large, sutra-covered dragon that claims the spotlight during this festival, and its creation was supported by Kyoto’s traditional craftspeople.

The dragon’s pole bearers, escorts, accompanying soldiers, priests, and other retinue members are also dressed in costumes with influence from both China and Japan, the classic and the modern.  As the group makes its way through the route from 2pm to 3:30pm, the Tenbōshū musicians sound their conch shells, Tengujisha priests cast holy water, warriors hold their weapons high, men representing sixteen divinities chant, and the pole bearers move the dragon to survey its territory and those it protects.