ISE, Japan — Deep in the forests of the Japanese Alps, Shinto priests keep watch as woodsmen dressed in ceremonial white chop their axes into two ancient cypress trees, timing their swings so that ...

WESTERVILLE, Ohio — City leaders in Westerville want to resurrect a piece of history that takes us back 60 years. “Just that opportunity that we can tell our story,” said Christa Dickey, community ...

ISE, Japan (AP) — Every two decades for the last 1,300 years, Ise Jingu, Japan’s most revered Shinto shrine, has been knocked down and rebuilt from scratch. The massive, $390 million demolition and ...

Japan's shrine culture holds secrets that even frequent visitors rarely discover. Behind the serene torii gates and meticulously raked gravel paths lies a tradition so ancient and complex that it ...

Dozens of people soaked and splashed themselves in icy cold water on Saturday in a pool at a Tokyo shrine, adhering to the ...

Braving frigid waters, about 30 half-naked men carried a portable Shinto shrine into the sea on Tuesday as part of an annual ...

In thousands of Shinto shrines across Japan last week, sober-faced girls in white robes and vermilion skirts practiced the stately postures of the ritualistic Kagura dance. Musicians wearing eboshi ...

ISE, Japan (AP) — Deep in the forests of the Japanese Alps, Shinto priests keep watch as woodsmen dressed in ceremonial white chop their axes into two ancient cypress trees, timing their swings so ...