Twelve men were injured when multiple "mikoshi" portable shrines toppled during a festival in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, in central Japan earlier this month, according to local police and the city fire department. The mikoshi portable shrine race at Hiyoshi Taisha shrine's annual Sanno Matsuri was being held on April 13,...

A biographical novel of the late Jakucho Setouchi, a writer and Buddhist priest, titled "Shukke: Jakucho ni Natta Hi," which translates to "Entering the priesthood: The day I became Jakucho," has been published. The author Reiko Nagao, who lives in Tokyo, was her secretary. Being a relative of Setouchi, Nagao...

The kanji character for "sen," which means war, battle or fight, was selected as "Kanji of the Year," or the character best representing the social trends in 2022. It was announced by the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, based in Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto, on December 12, and written calligraphically on...

"I put a new 500-yen coin into a vending machine but it was rejected." Some people may have had this experience. Although the new coins have been in circulation for more than a year, many vending machines and money changers in Kyoto City still do not accept them. We have...

A sake brewery in Kyotamba, Kyoto Prefecture, has mixed steamed rice with rice malt and water in a traditional, mostly manual fashion so fermentation will yield the season's new products. The Chourou brewery, founded in 1903, has maintained the sake brewing method inherited from masters from the Tajima northern area...

The third mineral processing site in Tsuchikura Mine Ruins, in Kinomoto-cho, Nagahama City, Shiga Prefecture, has been in the limelight on social networking sites (SNS). It is sometimes called the "Laputa of Shiga" because of its resemblance to the setting of Hayao Miayazaki’s animated film, "Laputa: Castle in the Sky."...

Kyoto Sanga FC (J1) played to a 1-1 draw against Roasso Kumamoto in the J1 playoff final at Sanga Stadium by KYOCERA on November 13, retaining their place in the J1. A record 18,207 spectators were at the stadium and supporters celebrated Sanga’s J1 survival. The two teams engaged in...