An ancient Buddhist ritual to pray for peace in the country was held in Kyoto amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Goshichinichi Mishiho ritual was conducted for a week from Jan. 8 by high-ranked monks who had tested negative for the coronavirus. The ritual was started in 835 by Kukai, who...

Kyoto City has been selected as this year's Best Big City in the world for the first time in the annual ranking by Conde Nast Traveler, a leading U.S. travel magazine, moving up from second place last year. This shows Kyoto's enduring popularity despite the ongoing restrictions on tourists entering...

It has been discovered that the United States National Archives and Records Administration has preserved color film of warships sunk or stranded in Maizuru Bay, Maizuru City, Kyoto Prefecture. The film was shot by the U.S. military in 1946, a year after the end of World War II. The film...

The three-tiered, four-story keep soars over a mountain range shrouded in the morning haze and the majestic Yura River. Fukuchiyama Castle in Fukuchiyama City, Kyoto Prefecture, was built by Mitsuhide Akechi, the protagonist of NHK's historical drama television series, "Kirin ga Kuru," or Awaiting Kirin. The castle is still popular...

The autumn foliage was at its finest on the "Avenue of Metasequoias" in Makino-cho, Takashima City, Shiga Prefecture. Crowds of tourists were enjoying the russet-colored tunnel formed from branches stretching out from the huge trees along both sides of the road. There are 500 metasequoia trees planted along the 2.4-kilometer...

A Buddhist ceremony was held in Kiyomizu-dera Temple, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto, on the morning of December 3 to celebrate the completion of reroofing the main hall, a National Treasure, and replacement of the temple terrace floorboards. Approximately 20 people, including representatives of the followers and construction workers, attended. The priests'...

"Gozan no Okuribi," a traditional Kyoto bonfire event held annually on August 16 to send off the ancestral spirits that were welcomed back during the O-bon holidays, will be held on a greatly reduced scale this year to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The decision was announced on July 27...