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October in the traditional Japanese calendar is known to as Kannazuki 神無月, the month of the gods. While literally translated as "the month without gods," this refers to the month in which the kami leave all parts of Japan to gather at Izumo Taisha shrine (出雲大社) to discuss upcoming events for the year such as marriages, deaths, and births. Izumo Taisha is considered the oldest and one of the most important shrines in all of Japan. The earliest mention of Izumo Taisha was recorded in the Nihon Shoki 日本書紀 (Chronicles of Japan) in approximately 700CE, but the shrine is believed to have been in existence prior to even this early record. Located on the northern coast along the Sea of Japan an hour west of Matsue, Shinto rituals are still held every October 10th to welcome the gods to Izumo. The primary kami venerated at Izumo Taisha is Okuninushi no Okami, who according to legend was the creator of the land of Japan and the ruler of Izumo.
Held each year on October 22nd, the Jidai Matsuri 時代祭 (Festival of the Ages) is one of Kyoto's three major festivals of the year. Begun in 1895, it divides the time period from 794 to 1895 into eight "ages," with over 2000 participants in historically accurate period dress parading from the Imperial Palace to the Heian Jingū shine (平安神宮), built in 1895 to celebrate the 1100 year anniversary of the founding of Kyoto. The largest group of the parade features the opulent convoys of the Shoguns of the Edo period, the armored columns of the samurai of the Kamakura and Muromachi periods, and the unifies of Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu of the Sengoku period. But the most important part of the parade is the last, as two mikoshi 神輿 (portable shrines) containing the spirits of Emperor Kammu and Emperor Komei, the first and last emperors of Kyoto, make the journey from the Imperial Palace to Heian Jingū where they are enshrined.
Takeno Jōō, the teacher of renown tea master Sen Rikyū, described the "chill" and "withered" nature of Kannazuki as representative of wabi-cha 侘 茶, the "tea of quiet taste," therefor ideal for the ritual service of tea.
