Tag - temples

 
 

TEMPLES

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 Japan’s 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.
Stays at Aman Kyoto start at around $2,500 (about ¥375,000) and increasing to $4,000 (about ¥600,000) per night, but for the right traveler, it's not money entirely wasted.
LIFE / Travel
Oct 19, 2024
Kyoto’s most expensive hotel offers inner peace — for a price
Aman Kyoto is one of the most luxurious options for stays in Japan’s ancient capital — but is it worth the hefty price tag?
Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Jul 21, 2024
As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals
Can a 700-year-old dance have an effect on extreme heat or torrential rain? Probably not. When you're feeling powerless, though, any little thing helps.
Dai Nippon Printing's "Midokoro viewer" system displays 3D images of cultural assets on a touch screen.
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2024
Japan firms working on digital cultural assets
Major printing company Toppan has produced more than 60 virtual reality images since launching its digital cultural assets project in 1997.
Asuka was one of Japan's earliest imperial capitals before the court eventually decamped for other locales.
LIFE / Travel
Jul 6, 2024
Cycling through Asuka, the forgotten capital of ancient Japan
During the Yamato Period (300-710), this village was one of the earliest capitals of the nascent Yamato state, even meriting its own aptly named Asuka Period (552-645).
The nun said she hopes her going public will cast a spotlight on the extremely cloistered nature of temples that she warned can be a hotbed of sex crimes.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 5, 2024
Japan Buddhist sect probes nun's sexual assault claims
The woman, reportedly now in her 50s, had previously accused the older monk of rape but authorities dropped her case in 2019, media reports said.
Men in loincloths scramble for a bag of talismans during the Sominsai festival at Kokuseki Temple in Oshu, Iwate Prefecture, on Saturday.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2024
Festival with 1,000-year history succumbs to graying population
Kokuseki Temple's Sominsai festival used to take place from the seventh day of Lunar New Year through to the following morning.
Visitors strike a giant bell to mark the new year as a Buddhist monk looks on, at Zojoji temple in Tokyo on Jan. 1, 2023.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 31, 2023
Ring in the new year on your phone: Apps offer alternate to Japan temple tradition
Smartphone apps are aiming to offer alternative ways to enjoy a noisy New Year's tradition.
A 46-year-old priest was arrested Thursday for possessing marijuana at his home in Sammu, Chiba Prefecture, according to an NHK report.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 19, 2023
Chiba priest arrested for marijuana possession: NHK
Police arrested the priest at Rengeji Temple for possessing dried marijuana at his home.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 14, 2023
Iconic dragon painting at Sensoji Temple peels off ceiling
The painting had been scheduled for restoration this fall to address decades of deterioration.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 7, 2023
Buddhist statue stolen from Nagano temple returned after police hunt
Police arrested Shintaro Morimoto, a 34-year-old man from Mifune, Kumamoto Prefecture, for allegedly stealing the holy statue.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2023
South Korean court rejects temple's claim to statue it says pirates pillaged
The 20-inch gilt bronze statue of a Buddhist Bodhisattva was stolen from a Japanese temple in 2012 by South Korean thieves, who were caught trying to sell it after returning home.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2023
Kyoto's Kinkakuji to raise admission fees for the first time in 30 years
The temple, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site, will raise the admission fee for adults and high school students to ¥500 from ¥400 on April 1.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2023
Cashless 'saisen' religious offerings spread amid COVID pandemic
Many believe that cashless saisen offerings could help reduce the spread of COVID-19 as people can avoid crowds forming around offering boxes at temples and shrines.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 30, 2022
The rural temple where winemaking equals worship
Yamanashi Prefecture's Daizenji Temple is dedicated to the premodern monk who is said to have introduce the joy of wine to Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 19, 2022
Rest vroom: Japan's oldest toilet damaged in car crash
Tofukuji Temple in the city of Kyoto houses a toilet said to date back to the 15th century, earning it the designation of an important cultural asset.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Dec 13, 2021
Legendary temple in Kusatsu seeks funds for restoration through crowdfunding
Even if the temple owner received subsidies from the national, prefectural and municipal governments, it would still have to pay u00a510 million or more from its own pocket.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Nov 28, 2021
What temples and shrines mean to an outsider
Temples and shrines offer a closeness with nature that can provide spiritual comfort to those who are far from their own religious communities.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Mar 20, 2021
Leap of faith: Japan’s religious institutions get innovative in pandemic
Temples and shrines nationwide are experimenting with new ways of meeting the spiritual and emotional needs of parishioners.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?