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August 12, 2026
 

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SHRINES

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.
A Japanese man living in the United States has been arrested for allegedly splashing an oil-like substance at Katori Shrine in the city of Katori, Chiba Prefecture, in 2015.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 4, 2026
Man held for splashing oil-like substance at shrine near Tokyo in 2015
Masahide Kanayama, a 63-year-old man who lived in the U.S., was brought back to Japan under the U.S.-Japan extradition treaty.
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.
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.
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.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 18, 2025
Ishiba not to visit Yasukuni Shrine during spring festival
No sitting prime minister has paid a visit to the shrine since December 2013, when Shinzo Abe did so.
At each shrine and temple, priests create festive, decorative go-shuin stamps, and you can collect the marks of all seven of the lucky gods on one piece of paper (called a shikishi) to serve as a good-luck talisman.
LIFE / Travel
Dec 27, 2024
Start the new year not with one temple visit, but seven
The seven lucky gods pilgrimage is a less hurried alternative to the often-crowded first temple or shrine visit of the year.
A blue sheet obscures a stone pillar that bears the name of the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, after graffiti was found on it on Aug. 19.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 22, 2024
Tokyo police obtain warrant for Chinese youth over Yasukuni graffiti
The?youth is suspected of writing Chinese words, including one meaning toilet, on a stone pillar and its base at Yasukuni Shrine at around 10 p.m. on Aug. 18.
A photo taken on Monday shows a torii gate at the Meiji Shrine on which carvings resembling kanji were found.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 14, 2024
American tourist arrested over defacing of Meiji Shrine torii gate
Suspect Steve Lee Hayes, 65, allegedly carved letters into the wooden pillar of one of the shrine¡¯s torii gates.
The Kurama Fire Festival is one of Japan's most visceral 'matsuri' (festivals), but growing throngs of spectators could bring changes in the future.
LIFE / Travel
Nov 2, 2024
At Â鶹´«Ã½ hottest festival, crowds threaten to smother the flames
Despite the growing throngs of attendees, it¡¯s the smaller details of the Kurama Fire Festival that add up to more than the sum of its parts.
Shinto priests attend a ritual during the autumn festival at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN
Oct 19, 2024
No Cabinet ministers visit Yasukuni Shrine during fall festival
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba only made a ritual tree offering to the controversial Shinto shrine.
A torii gate in Tokyo. A Chilean gymnast has apologized after receiving criticism for posting a video of herself doing pullups on a torii gate.
JAPAN
Oct 17, 2024
Chilean woman slammed over viral clip of pullups on torii shrine gate
The woman has since deleted the post, saying she did not realize that she was in a sacred place and acted without thinking.
Masakaki tree offerings made by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and health minister Takamaro Fukuoka are seen at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN
Oct 17, 2024
Ishiba sends offering to war-linked Yasukuni Shrine
The prime minister is unlikely to visit the Shinto shrine during its fall festival, however.
A white hood believed to have been worn by the Sengoku Period warlord Uesugi Kenshin
JAPAN / History
Sep 15, 2024
Repair work begins for hood linked to warlord Uesugi Kenshin
The white hood is expected to be exhibited to the public in 2028 or 2030.
¡®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.
Yasukuni Shrine introduces ban on military attire and cosplay
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.
Many Indonesians named after Japanese anime characters
Some people in Indonesia are named Doraemon, the name of a lead character of the blockbuster anime series with the same title.
Strong wind and heavy rain forecast as tropical storm approaches Japan
Tropical Storm Chan-hom is expected to make landfall in northern Kanto between late Tuesday and early Wednesday.
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.
As Â鶹´«Ã½ concrete jungles sizzle, urban forestry offers an all-natural fix
People and birds find relief from the sun in Tokyo's Nakano Ward earlier this month. While experts agree that urban greening is crucial to mitigating the impact of climate change, trees are becoming even more scarce in Japanese cities.
Â鶹´«Ã½ brewers experiment with a secret ingredient: music
At Smoke Craft, a craft beer brewery in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, music isn't just a background to the brewing process ¡ª it's an ingredient.
As countries ban social media for children, Japan mulls a different approach
Data from NTT Docomo¡¯s Mobile Society Research Institute released in June found that 55% of respondents across all age groups said they fiddled with their phones when they had nothing to do, even when another person was in front of them.
J. League enters new era as league kicks off first fall-spring campaign
Players from each J. League club pose during a kickoff event on Monday ahead of the start of the 2026-27 campaign.

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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