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August 13, 2026
 

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SHINTO

Yasukuni Shrine in April
JAPAN / Society
Aug 12, 2026
Ban on military-style clothing does not apply to active-duty personnel, Yasukuni clarifies
The shrine said that it has seen an increase in visitors wearing military attire without any affiliation or qualification.
People gather in front of thousands of lanterns on display at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on July 15 during the Mitama Matsuri, one of the capital's largest summer o-Bon festivals.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 10, 2026
Yasukuni Shrine introduces ban on military attire and cosplay
The announcement comes just before the anniversary of Â鶹´«Ã½ World War II surrender, when many traditionally pay a visit to the shrine.
The Chiba District Court on Thursday sentenced Masahide Kanayama, 63-year-old doctor, to 18 months in prison, suspended for three years, for damaging historic buildings at Katori Jingu Shrine and Naritasan Shinshoji Temple in 2015.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 7, 2026
U.S.-based doctor sentenced in historic building vandalism case
Masahide Kanayama is a Japanese national who lived in the United States until being extradited to Japan earlier this year.
Princess Aiko observes a traditional rite for the reconstruction of the Grand Shrines of Ise in Mie Prefecture on Saturday
JAPAN
Aug 2, 2026
Princess Aiko observes traditional rites at Mie¡¯s Grand Shrines of Ise
Princess Aiko visited a facility where specially designated timber for the next reconstruction, set for 2033, is processed.
It's not unheard of for summer temperatures in Kumagaya to reached over 40 degrees Celsius, but the Uchiwa Festival goes on regardless.
LIFE / Travel
Jul 14, 2026
Surviving the Uchiwa Festival, Â鶹´«Ã½ hottest ¡®matsuri¡¯
Temperatures in Kumagaya, home of the raucous Uchiwa Festival, often top 40 degrees Celsius.
For one April Sunday each year, the otherwise working class city of Kawasaki becomes host to one of Japan's most unusual-looking festivals.
LIFE / Travel
May 23, 2026
At Kawasaki¡¯s ¡®penis festival,¡¯ phalluses are vessels of compassion
The event ¡®may look weird,¡¯ says a priestess of Kanayama Shrine, but its origins and purpose point to a deeper meaning.
Devotees walk on a forest path as they carry a portable shrine holding a deity back to the Musashi Mitake Shrine on the second day of the two-day Hinode Sai, or Sunrise Festival, in Ome, Tokyo, on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2026
Mountain festival marks spring arrival high above Tokyo
The Hinode Sai, or Sunrise Festival, is believed to have started when wandering ascetics climbed Mount Mitake in search of enlightenment.
Projects like the BuddhaBot aim to re-create dialogue once lost to time, raising questions about whether AI can extend the teachings of Buddha or merely simulate them.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Longform
Apr 13, 2026
Can AI replace a priest? Â鶹´«Ã½ temples and shrines are testing the limits.
Â鶹´«Ã½ temples experiment with artificial intelligence as questions of faith, presence and care grow more urgent.
The Yamatsumi Shrine festival is held once again in the village of Iitate, Fukushima Prefecture, in December.
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2026
Major shrine festival back in Fukushima village
It had not been unusual for Yamatsumi Shrine, one of rare Shinto shrines dedicated to wolves, to be flooded with people and stalls during its annual festival before 3/11.
Members of the Chunichi Dragons pray at Atsuta Jingu in Nagoya ahead of the start of their season in March.
SPORTS
Jan 1, 2026
Gods and games: Rituals that kick off Â鶹´«Ã½ sporting year
From hatsum¨­de to victory charms, many athletes have rituals that are rooted in the spiritual side of Japanese sport.
In 2025, the 20 Questions column had 26 total interviews that offered insights into the professional, creative and personal backgrounds of people from various careers and walks of life.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Dec 27, 2025
Finding a balance between tradition and innovation in 2025
With more than two dozen interviews throughout the year, our 20 Questions column highlighted diverse views on creativity, tradition and cultural hybridity.
Newly elected Japanese leader Sanae Takaichi, if called upon to present the Prime Minister¡¯s Cup, should refuse to enter the sumo ring because the »å´Ç³ó²â¨­¡¯s sacred meaning depends on preserving its ritual form rather than modern political symbolism.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 21, 2025
Why Prime Minister Takaichi should refuse to enter sumo¡¯s »å´Ç³ó²â¨­
The »å´Ç³ó²â¨­ is not a stage for political theater. It is a sacred space, not a square to be conquered for an #InstagrammableMoment.
Dragons feature prominently in Japanese folklore, though tracing their physical steps through the countryside requires some rural excursions.
LIFE / Travel
Nov 29, 2025
Chasing dragons across the temples of Nara
In two rural prefectures, dragon myths ¡ª and a cave that purports to host some ¡ª make for a unique way to explore the Japanese countryside.
Japan Sumo Association Chairman Hakkaku (front center) delivers a speech on the first day of the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center on Sunday. Centuries of belief and tradition still underpin the all-male association's stance of excluding women.
SUMO
Nov 11, 2025
As Â鶹´«Ã½ female leader rises, can she cross sumo¡¯s sacred line?
Professional sumo¡¯s ring remains off-limits to women and girls ¡ª not by law, but by centuries of belief and tradition.
Florian Wiltschko¡¯s interest in Shintoism began with a trip to Japan in his teens. He now serves as the supplicant priest at the 355-year-old Hisai Hachiman Shrine in Mie Prefecture.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Oct 24, 2025
Florian Wiltschko: ¡®Shinto helps me understand and live within Japanese culture¡¯
A Shinto priest from Austria talks about the origins of his spiritual journey and how he spends his days at a 355-year-old shrine.
In the ¡°Kojiki,¡± the origins of the Japanese archipelago are attributed to the coupling of Izanagi and Izanami, two kami from the Plain of High Heaven.
JAPAN / History / The Living Past
Sep 20, 2025
Humanity¡¯s tales of creation, cataclysm and kami
Cultures the world over have invented their own distinctive creation myths since antiquity. In Japan, the ¡°Kojiki¡± offers insight into premodern perspectives on the nation.
Prince Hisahito (right) visits Ise Shrine's Geku outer shrine in Ise, Mie Prefecture, on Monday.
JAPAN
Sep 8, 2025
Prince Hisahito visits Ise Shrine after coming-of-age ceremony
The prince, second in line to the throne, underwent his coming-of-age ceremony on Saturday.
Shinto priests holding traditional umbrellas walk to the main shrine for a ritual to cleanse themselves during the annual Spring Festival at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo in April 2016.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 13, 2025
Dispelling the myth of Yasukuni Shrine
The shrine has been a lightning rod ¡ª especially as it has been used by some of Â鶹´«Ã½ neighbors as a convenient means to shift attention away from their domestic issues.
People pray during a visit to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Aug. 15, the 79th anniversary of Japan's surrender during World War II.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 20, 2025
Why only Japan is criticized for honoring its war dead
Other countries honor the ultimate sacrifice regardless of whether the war was just, later judged a mistake or involved actions that could be seen as war crimes.
Descendents of the original "Gonin Byakush¨­" families are the only vendors allowed inside the gates of Kotohira Shrine, where they sell "kamiyoame," a golden-hued, yuzu-flavored candy meant for good fortune.
LIFE / Travel
Jun 7, 2025
At a mountainside shrine, yuzu candy made by imperial decree
Located in the mountains of western Kagawa Prefecture, Kotohira has yet to suffer ¡ª or benefit ¡ª from Â鶹´«Ã½ overtourism rush.
Gut bacteria may be behind many of Â鶹´«Ã½ colorectal cancer cases
A Japanese research team found that a toxin produced by certain E. coli strains, colibactin, caused genetic mutations in nearly half of colorectal cancer cases studied
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
She is Russia¡¯s richest woman. Her business empire is going up in flames.
Tatyana Kim, the head and co-founder of Wildberries, speaks about Ukrainian drone attacks on the company's warehouses in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, at an unidentified location, in this still image from a handout video released on July 31.
Severe tropical storm Chan-hom makes landfall near Tokyo
Severe Tropical Storm Chan-hom made landfall around Ibaraki Prefecture, near Tokyo, on Tuesday night.
What Â鶹´«Ã½ language rules for permanent residency should look like
Potential health care workers hoping to find work in Japan take Japanese language instruction in Jakarta. Not all applicants for permanent residency should be expected to reach this level of proficiency.
Forty-five meters down, a diver races to record a fleeting moment of WWII history
Kingo Wakasa photographs the kamikaze plane wing section he discovered at the USS Emmons wreck site.
Ikarigata closer to emulating older brother Fujinokawa than many think
The future Fujinokawa (third from left) and Ikarigata (right) compete against each other at ages 5 and 3, respectively.
Where do foreign residents in Japan want to die?
The Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery is one of the few cemeteries in Japan that allows burials, albeit with conditions for the deceased, including foreign nationality and permanent residency in Kanagawa Prefecture.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

Disaster relief workers Taichi Kato (left) and Seiji Yoshimura enter the collapsed living quarters at Kyuganji temple in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture.
What Kumamoto revealed about Â鶹´«Ã½ earthquake readiness
By Alex K.T. Martin

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