Kyoto 1626, year 3 of the Kan’ei Era. 400 years before now.

     Emperor Gomizunoo, the driving force behind the Kan’ei cultural salons, caused an uproar in Kyoto with a magnificent imperial procession of over 9000 people when he visited Nijo Castle.

     Our Tanabata Exhibition has its roots in the “Tanabata Rikka-e” (Star Festival Rikka Gathering) that Emperor Gomizunoo held in the Imperial Palace. The Emperor was so enthusiastic about Rikka, that in some years he held upwards of 30 Rikka gatherings and even arranged his own. Ikenobo Senko II, celebrated as the “Perfector of Rikka,” was entrusted to guide these gatherings.

     Since then, Ikenobo has guarded the tradition of Rikka that the Emperor loved so much. The Tanabata Exhibition moved from the palace to Rokkakudo in the early Edo period, and through the Edo period it served as a poetic chronicle of the age that was loved by the local leaders of Kyoto. With the advent of the Meiji era, and the abolishment of the old seasonal festivals (including Tanabata), then-Headmaster Ikenobo Sensho chose to continue the exhibition under the name “Kyu Tanabata-e,” or “The Old Calendar Tanabata Gathering,” to honor the memory of Emperor Gomizunoo. It has been held continuously from then to today.