Due to the saying that people are able to live healthily for a year when they are exposed to the sparks, when the torches were swung around, people who came to visit the temple cheered. Japanese ...

As Japan’s population falls and interest ... them from being targeted by dubious buyers. And when big earthquakes hit, often damaging temples and shrines, agency officials visit religious ...

In 1941, when the Japanese government was salvaging metal from wherever it could for the looming Pacific War, the nation’s largest Buddhist group readily handed over its temple bells for the ...

Japan is an alluring destination because of its many juxtapositions. Neon skyscrapers tower over Shinto shrines, and salarymen ride the train next to Harajuku girls. The Land of the Rising Sun ...