Kiku Kuyo-e Chrysanthemum Service at Sensoji Temple

Held every October 18 at Sensoji, the Kiku Kuyo-e takes its origin from the noh play Kiku-jido, the tale of a boy who gained eternal youth through the merit of the Lotus Sutra — the same lineage of legend as the Choyo belief that dew from chrysanthemums becomes an elixir. On this day worshippers bring chrysanthemums to offer to Kannon and receive blessed blooms in exchange to carry home, where they are displayed for health and long life. Where Kokuzo Horinji in Kyoto marks the same Kiku-jido legend with its Choyo rite on September 9, Sensoji observes it on October 18 — the spirit of the chrysanthemum festival carried on under different dates in east and west. The day is also one of only two occasions each year for the Golden Dragon Dance, in which a dragon weighing some 80 kilograms is carried through the precincts by more than seventy bearers from the local youth associations.