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Baikasai is a Plum Blossom festival in Kyoto where Geisha and Maiko (Geisha apprentice) make tea and serve it to visitors.

Baikasai is held at Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, a shrine built in the 10th Century to honor the scholar and statesman Sugawara no Michizane. He particularly loved the plum blossoms due to his study of Chinese culture which also adored the plum blossoms as the harbingers of Spring.

The Tea Ceremony comes over 500 years after Sugawara’s death. In the 16th Century, it became a refined elegant ceremony enjoyed even by the warrior class. In 1587 the warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi held a Grand Tea Ceremony on the grounds of Kitano Tenmangu Shrine.

Geisha culture developed a century later and perfected the Tea Ceremony as part of their arsenal of traditional skills. Their addition to Baikasai though was only recently – in 1952.

Today the tea ceremony is held on February 25th which coincidentally is my birthday. For only $15 I was able to get tea served to me by a Geisha made by a Geisha – a birthday experience hard to match!

More info: youtube.com

Chado – Japanese Tea Ceremony

Maiko – Geisha Apprentice

Plum Blossom Geisha Tea Festival