festival
April 27, 2013
TAKATSUKI, Osaka Prefecture--Hundreds of carp streamers fluttering in the wind over a riverside park in this western city greeted the start of the annual Golden Week holiday...
April 20, 2013
SEOUL, South Korea--No red carpet. No sleek limousines dropping off celebrities dressed to impress.
April 04, 2013
NUMAZU, Shizuoka Prefecture--On the decks of festively decorated boats, fishermen dressed in women's clothing performed a traditional dance praying for a safe and bountiful...
March 25, 2013
As I dove into the interior of the 10-meter-tall parade float with the giant puppet eagles atop, I could only see a skeleton of steel pipes, the lining of fabric wrapped around ...
March 03, 2013
The aging town of Katsuura on the Boso Peninsula of Chiba Prefecture seems an unlikely place to be celebrating Hina Matsuri, known as the Doll Festival, or Girls’ Day.
February 28, 2013
A display of hundreds of vintage "hina" dolls to coincide with Hina Matsuri, or Girls' Festival, is drawing large numbers of visitors to a wedding complex in Tokyo.
February 26, 2013
KYOTO--Some of Japan's most celebrated traditions came together Feb. 25 as geisha served tea and mingled with visitors at a Kyoto shrine in an annual ceremony that expresses...
February 11, 2013
SENBOKU, Akita Prefecture--The night skies of Senboku were ablaze in a warm orange light on Feb. 10 as the people in this northern Japanese city celebrated their traditional...
February 06, 2013
SAPPORO--A massive Kabukiza theater made of snow has opened to the public here in this city in northern Japan, beating the reopening of the actual one in Tokyo by two months.
February 02, 2013
A long, long time ago in a place far, far away, the grandson of the sun goddess Amaterasu Omikami picked a rural spot to straighten out the troubled and corrupt land. That...
January 25, 2013
Editor's note: This is the first in a new series highlighting traditional festivals held throughout Japan
January 25, 2013
In the "snow country" up north, just about every community has its own festival and ritual. In the winter months in Akita Prefecture, this typically involves "namahage," men...
January 25, 2013
Stripping until you're almost in the buff is one thing, but when thousands of young men do it in front of a temple perhaps it's time to sit up and take notice. That's right:...
January 25, 2013
Nara, the graceful eighth-century capital of Japan, is almost bursting at the seams with ancient rites and rituals. Among them is the Kasuga Wakamiya Onmatsuri festival in...
January 19, 2013
Nara, the graceful eighth-century capital of Japan, is almost bursting at the seams with ancient rites and rituals. Among them is the Kasuga Wakamiya Onmatsuri festival in...
January 12, 2013
In the "snow country" up north, just about every community has its own festival and ritual. In the winter months in Akita Prefecture, this typically involves "namahage," men...
October 24, 2012
Toyota Motor Corp. announced Oct. 24 that the Toyota Automobile Museum will host a classic car festival at Meiji Jingu Gaien park in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on Dec. 1.
October 08, 2012
NAHA--A titanic tug-of-war took place on a national highway here Oct. 7, using a 200-meter rope weighing 43 tons.
September 03, 2012
It was a dinner of biblical proportions: Thousands of festival-goers shared a giant stew on a riverbank in Yamagata on Sept. 2.
August 25, 2012
NARA--Visitors to Heijokyo, the eighth-century capital of Japan, got an illuminating look at the area's history Aug. 24 as the Daigokuden palace celebrated the Heijokyo...