| DATE: | January 3, 2007 From 13:00 | |
| PLACE: | 625 Kitagawa, Gion-machi, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto |
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| DIRECTION: | City Bus #206 to Gion |
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| TEL: | 81-75-561-6155 |
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| ADMISSION: | Free | |
| TEXT: | The Karuta Hajime Ceremony, where the first card game of the new year is played, is held annually on January 3 at Yasaka Shrine in honor of the god of waka (Japanese poetry), Susanoo-no-mikoto. Little girls dressed in junihitoe (twelve-layered　robes) and little boys dressed in Heian-style kimono solemnly place karuta cards on the altar and perform a traditional karuta card game that is believed to have been played by Heian nobles. |