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 ...

TOKYO (AP) -- Almost weekly Momo Nomura makes time to visit Shinto shrines. She performs the prescribed rituals -- cleansing her hands, ringing a bell, bowing and clapping. But her main purpose is ...

Members of sexual minorities working at Shinto shrines took to social media to express their disgust at a pamphlet handed out at a gathering of Diet members this summer that portrayed them as ...

To millions of Japanese, the Shinto faith is not so much a spiritual practice as a cultural one. Every January, crowds gather at shrines to pray for good fortune for the new year. Families take their ...

Even remote sacred sites being hit repeatedly, forcing them to replace traditional copper with cheaper materials ...

A Shinto shrine in central Japan has put up a huge "hagoita" wooden paddle bearing a picture of a horse. The priests there hope the ornament will bring good luck to New Year's visitors. The horse is ...

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 ...

In Japan, it’s customary to start off the new year be going to a Shinto shrine to pray for good fortune in the new year. While many are thought to convey a vague blessing of overall prosperity, some ...

Rising copper prices in Japan are reportedly fuelling a surge in thefts targeting the nation’s sacred Shinto shrines whose metal roof plates are being stolen and resold. Even remote sites are being ...