"Baikasai," or plum blossom festival, commemorating Michizane Sugawara who loved plum blossoms, was held on February 25 at Kitano Tenmangu Shrine in Kamigyo Ward, Kyoto. In the precincts where approximately half of the plum blossoms are in bloom, visitors enjoyed "Nodate," or open-air tea ceremony amid the delicate scent of the flowers.

Held annually on the anniversary of the death of Michizane, the enshrined deity, the festival has continued for about 900 years. Special offerings for Baikasai such as "O-ban" and "Ko-ban," or steamed rice heaped up on large and small-sized bowls, and "Kodate," or rolled paper containing brown rice and small plum branches, were offered at the altar.

The highest temperature of the day reached 19.5 degrees Celsius, near mid-April temperatures, and the approach of spring could be felt within the precincts. On the specially arranged stage surrounded by blooming plum blossoms, visitors spent an elegant time at a tea ceremony entertained by "Geiko" and "Maiko," or geisha and apprentice geisha, from the local Kamishichiken area.