Originally, Kinen-sai festival was one of the annual rituals held by the Japanese nation under "ritsuryo" (legal codes in the Nara and Heian periods based on Chinese models), and a record says it was held as early as in the later seventh century, the reign of Emperor Tenmu.
元々は律令国家の恒例祭祀の一つであり、7世紀後半の天武天皇の時代にはすでに行われていた記録がある。