DATE:		June 15, 2007:  Memorial service from 10:00, fire ritual from 11:00
PLACE:		964 Higashi Kawara-cho, Higashi-oji Nanajo-kudaru, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto
DIRECTION:		City Bus #207 to Higashiyama Nanajo
TEL:		81-75-541-5361
ADMISSION:		Free
TEXT:		Aoba (Green Leaves) Festival celebrates the birth of Kobo Daishi Kukai, the founder of the Buddhist Shingon sect, and Kogyo Daishi Kakuban, the restorer of its sect. Following a memorial service, mountain monks known as yamabushi perform the impressive Saito Goma fire ritual. The temple’s exquisite garden and national treasure partition paintings are open to the public on this occasion from 9:00 to 16:00. Admission is free.