Business Overview
Main visual (work by Natsune Kurokawa (Kyoto Women’s University, 2nd year))
The Kyoto Student Festival is a major student-led event that began in 2003 with the aim of enlivening Kyoto with the power of students, and this year marks the 23rd time. The Kyoto Student Festival is a rare initiative in Japan that is planned and operated by the Kyoto Student Festival Executive Committee, which is organized by students in Kyoto, and is backed up by Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto City, economic organizations, universities, and local communities in an “All Kyoto” system. The 23rd Kyoto Student Festival was held on Sunday, October 12, 2025. On the day of the event, 113,780 people attended. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to everyone involved and everyone who supported the Kyoto Student Festival for their warm support. Thank you for your continued support of the Kyoto Student Festival.
The 23rd Kyoto Student Festival Theme
About the theme
This phrase, which is the first shout of the Kyoto Student Festival’s creative dance “Kyoen Sodefure!”, which celebrates its 20th anniversary at the 23rd time, says, “When you go on the road, even the smallest things like touching your sleeves with strangers, even the slightest negotiations with people, do not happen by chance, but all by deep fate.” It has the meaning. We are grateful for the deep relationships we have had with the visitors, performers, sponsoring companies, and related organizations that have met during the 23 years of activities of the Kyoto Student Festival, and our goal is to make it a festival where we can feel a sense of unity, as the management side and participants will work together to create the Kyoto Student Festival. In addition, we will work on activities that value the encounters and connections with each and every one of us so that the new encounters at the 23rd will be the food for the festival that will continue dozens of times in the future.
In addition, the theme of the English version, “Every Encounter is Destiny”, aims to help foreigners understand the meaning of “touching each other’s sleeves but also the bond of many lives” and to learn about the Kyoto Student Festival.
Implementation plan
It was carried out as the highlight project of this year. Kyoto Sangyo University Tea Ceremony Research Department “Washinkai” and Kyoto University of Art and Design Faculty of Architecture and Faculty of Art collaborated. We made a tea room using waste materials from Kyomachiya and held a tea ceremony. The tea room, which was built using the waste wood of a dismantled Kyomachiya, was named “Aiyoan” (*), and the roof was designed with many twisted threads with the idea of “making it a place where many people can connect their hearts.” The tea leaves used were made from Wazuka Town, a famous tea producing area, and the water used in front of the tea was procured from Shimogorei Shrine. It was a project that fused the rich ideas and culture of the students. In addition, people from Wazuka Town in Kyoto Prefecture, which is a major producer of Uji tea, also exhibited a booth and introduced Wazuka Town’s initiatives and provided tea to visitors.
*Feng Rong-an: “Ai ” represents a once-in-a-lifetime meeting between people, and “Rong” represents a hibiscus flower that blooms in the morning and withers in the evening. Since hibiscus flowers change color in the morning and noon, it represents that the color of wood also changes from new wood to old wood.
＜Opening＞
We carried out a parade in the Jingu Road area. In the parade, we marched along with the marching performance of the Kyoto Ryoyo High School Brass Band Club. After the parade, the Taiko Center Co., Ltd.’s exclusive youth team Matsuri Musume performed on the main stage of Jingu Dohoku, and a collaboration performance of Japanese drum × calligraphy by the organization and the calligraphy club of Kyoto Prefectural Rakusai High School.
Kyoyan Sodefure! Contest >
Ten host teams belonging to member schools of the University Consortium Kyoto competed in a contest under the theme of the Kyoto Student Festival’s original creative dance “Kyoen Sodefure!”, with team colors and the team’s own dance theme.
Eleven diverse groups from all over the country performed performances such as cheer dance and yosakoi. We also received video appearances from three distant groups.
＜Kyoto Student Music Award＞
Among the organizations that applied, 8 organizations that won the preliminary round by the main festival showed off their full performance in the open live screening on the day of the main festival.
Food Festival>
We carried out a food stall project centered on university student groups in Kyoto. This year, we held a contest and asked visitors to vote for the dishes that they felt were delicious.
Corporate Booths and Administrative Booths>
Booths were held by sponsoring companies and co-organizers of the Kyoto Student Festival. Each company and organization operated a booth that took advantage of its characteristics.
In the Okazaki Ground, we had an experiential booth that could be enjoyed mainly by those with children, and on Jingu Road, we performed street performances.
＜Grand Finale＞
We performed by the Kyoto Tachibana University Brass Band and the Kyoto Notre Dame Gakuin High School Baton Twirling Club. Also, Kyoflame Sode touch! The final dance of the contest, Kyoflame Sodefure! After the special version was performed, it ended with a total dance. This year, the Shinmachi Activate Project (SAP), a registered organization of the Doshisha University Student Support Center, also lit up the Jingu Road to create a fantastic space.
Contest Results
| Project Title | Rankings and Organization Names |
| Kyo Flame Sodetouch! contest | Winner: Kyoyan Sode Fure! Saikyo Front (Kyoto University, Kyoto Prefecture University) Runner-up: Kyoyan Sodefure! Tacchi (Kyoto Tachibana University) 3rd place: Kyoflame Sodefure! Odoritsu (Ritsumeikan University) Special Prize: Kyoflame Sodefure! Saki Sanka (Kyoto Sangyo University) |
| Kyoto Student Music Award | Winner: Rakugai (Kyoto University) Runner-up: Aquaculture waste (Doshisha University) 3rd place: Beard Monologue (Kansai University) |
| Food Festival | Winner: Pikacho (Kyoto Kacho University) Runner-up: Kyoto Prefectural Student Blood Donation Promotion Council (Kyoto Medical College) 3rd place: Organic Agriculture Research Group minori (Kyoto University) |
Pre
We held two pre-events that partially incorporated the planning of the main festival.
(1) Pre-event at AEON MALL Kyoto Katsuragawa
Date: Saturday, May 10, 2025
Implementation details: Kyoflame Sodefure! Show, stamp rally, lantern production, giant Jenga, giant lucky laughter, Mother’s Day letter production, stamp rally card case production
(2) Pre-event at Kawaramachi Garden
Implementation details: Kyoflame Sodefure! Presentation, lantern production, participatory sticker art, quiz competition, and mini mikoshi exhibition
The 23rd Kyoto Student Festival Annual Activities
The Kyoto Student Festival Executive Committee is building cooperative relationships for the festival while expressing our gratitude on a daily basis by interacting with the Okazaki area, where the Kyoto Student Festival is held, and the local people who have been connected with us through our activities so far. In addition to this festival, we aim to be a “festival” that is loved by the community and rooted in the community, and we will carry out daily activities throughout the year together with the local community.
Presentation and delivery class
In various places inside and outside Kyoto Prefecture, we are performing the creative dance of the Kyoto Student Festival, “Kyoen Sodefure!”
In addition, lectures (commonly known as delivery classrooms) will be held at elementary, junior high, and support schools in Kyoto Prefecture, and Kyoen Sode Fure! We are working to let more people experience the charm of the Kyoto Student Festival. By interacting with many generations of people in the community through dance, university students will also lead to the revitalization of the community.
This year, we received many requests, including performances at Kyoto Hanneries and performances at the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo.
Kyo Flame Sodetouch! What is it?
“Kyoen Sodefure!” is an original creative dance of the Kyoto Student Festival that was born from the 3rd Kyoto Student Festival with the idea of aiming for a festival that can not only be seen but also participated in and enjoyed. Based on Kyoto-like songs, choreography, and costumes, they dance with four bamboo sticks in their hands.
“Kyoen” contains the wish to “send the burning feelings of students from Kyoto to the whole country” and the meaning of “co-performance” and “competition”. “Sodefure” is derived from “the edge of many lives even though you wave your sleeves together”. “Fure” is multiplied by “friend”, and the name is based on the hope that people will interact through the dance.
Currently, there are 11 teams called “Kyoen Sodefure! Host Team” at universities in Kyoto Prefecture, and more than 800 university students belong to it every year. I am working every day to liven up Kyoto and transmit a new student culture to the whole country and the world.
Kyoyan Sodefure! and details of each host team can be found below.
https://www.kyoto-gakuseisaiten.com/sodefure/about-sodefure
https://www.kyoto-gakuseisaiten.com/sodefure/host-team
Community Exchange
We participate in local festivals and events as volunteer staff, interact with local people and children, and conduct night patrols once a month to protect the safety of the Okazaki area, where the festival is held, and to deepen interaction with local people. We aim to revitalize the region and deepen exchanges with local people so that more people in Kyoto can learn about the Kyoto Student Festival. In addition, in order to deepen understanding of the Okazaki area and Heian Shrine, which is the venue of this festival, we had the people involved train them. In addition, we hold “partner exchange meetings” and “Let’s talk in a circle” as places to interact with sponsoring companies, and provide opportunities for students and working adults to interact and collaborate with sponsoring companies.
international exchange
We are engaged in exchange activities with international students studying in Kyoto. We convey the charm of Kyoto to international students, and on the contrary, we also learn various things from international students and give each other inspiration.
This year, we held three exchange meetings for international students, and exchanged them through sports and the dance experience of “Kyoyan Sodefure!” The international students I met at the international student exchange meeting participated in the parade and booth management staff on the day of the festival.
Environmental Activities
In order to reduce the impact on the environment as much as possible, we have been implementing “KYO-SENSE” activities since 2007. The word “KYO” contains the meaning of “Kyoto” and “today”, and “cooperation” between local people and students. “SENSE” has the meaning of “the sensibility of young people living today”, and the main focus is to learn and apply the traditional wisdom of Kyoto.
This year, with the aim of providing coolness derived from nature, we carried out a water spraying project in front of Higashi Honganji Temple and in front of Heian Shrine, where the main festival is held. On the day of the festival, we made efforts to prevent the increase in garbage, such as using reused tableware and installing water dispensers at the food festival.
For more information about the Kyoto Student Festival, please visit the official website and official social media.
Constantly updated!
Inquiries
University Consortium Kyoto Student Support Division
TEL 075-353-9189 FAX 075-353-9101
〒600-8216 Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Nishitoin-dori, Shiokoji, Shimo-ku, Kyoto, Campus Plaza Kyoto
* Reception hours: Tuesday ~ Saturday 9:00 ~ 17:00 (excluding year-end and New Year holidays)
