Garden Party

• The winter garden party
• The spring garden party

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The Garden Party (園遊会, Enyūkai^?) is a biyearly formal event attended by the Emperor, his family, high consorts and their ladies-in-waiting, and civil and military officials. It is held outdoors in the imperial gardens twice a year, during the spring and winter. Garden parties are used to debut new royal children, high consorts, and clans.

Garden parties follow a strict seating arrangement. At the front end, the Emperor sits at the center and his family members are seated next to him on both sides, followed by the high consorts. The military officials sit on the west side of the performance stage, while the civil officials sit on the east side.

The high consorts dress in their assigned color palette, and their ladies-in-waiting dress in a lighter hue of that color. Usually, the Precious and Wise Consorts attend the spring garden party, while the Virtuous and Pure Consorts attend the winter one. They may be excused and attend the next garden party if they are pregnant.

During a garden party, various entertainment such as dancing and music performances are shown first, then a break before the meal after noon. This is followed by socializing amongst those attending. Hair sticks may also be presented from officials to women they are interested in.

Gallery

Maomao receives a hair stick from Lihaku during event

See also

• The Garden Party (season 1, episode 6)