One of the first things many people learn about Japan is that there are two religions, Shinto and Buddhism. Shinto is the native animistic belief, while Buddhism was imported from China via Korea in ...

TOKYO (AP) — Akihito performed the ‘Shinetsu no Gi’ ritual at Ise Shrine in western Japan as part of the succession process. TOKYO (AP) — Emperor Akihito prayed at a Japanese shrine Thursday (April 18 ...

Japan's Emperor Akihito is stepping down on April 30 in the country's first abdication in 200 years. He performed a sacred ritual on Thursday to report his abdication to the Shinto gods and start the ...

Visitors performing ablutions during a pilgrimage to the Kiyoshikojin Seicho-ji temple complex on a wooded mountain just north of Osaka, Japan. About 3.5 million people visit the complex annually, ...

In a mountain town, schoolboys in traditional loincloths keep up a 300-year tradition. The hadaka matsuri festivals, rooted in Shinto tradition,... Japanese 'Naked' Festivals Keep Centuries-Old ...

Though it is mostly an irreligious country, seemingly untroubled by matters of the hereafter, Japan is over-run with festivals and holidays dedicated to the Buddhist and Shinto gods. Few contemporary ...

With its bullet trains; electronic toilets that warm, clean and dry; and hyper-efficient delivery systems that bring online orders to the doorstep within hours, it’s easy to forget that Japan is also ...

TAKARAZUKA, Japan (AP) — With its bullet trains, electronic toilets that warm, clean and dry, and hyper-efficient delivery systems that bring online orders to the doorstep within hours, it’s easy to ...

Japan is home to many local festivals, but some of the best known are the ones in which men run and jump around nearly naked — not for dirty reasons, but for ancient religious ones. The hadaka matsuri ...