"Yabusame" mounted archery rite at Shimogamo Shrine in Kyoto

"Yabusame" mounted archery rite at Shimogamo Shrine in Kyoto

KYOTO, Japan - An archer in traditional costume shoots an arrow while riding a horse at full speed during the annual "Yabusame Shinji" event at Shimogamo Shrine in Kyoto on May 3, 2014. Archers shot at three 50-centimeter-square targets set at 100-meter intervals. About 22,000 visitors watched the event.

"Yabusame" mounted archery rite at Shimogamo Shrine in Kyoto

"Yabusame" mounted archery rite at Shimogamo Shrine in Kyoto

KYOTO, Japan - An archer in traditional costume shoots an arrow while riding a horse at full speed during the annual "Yabusame Shinji" event at Shimogamo Shrine in Kyoto on May 3, 2014. Archers shot at three 50-centimeter-square targets set at 100-meter intervals. About 22,000 visitors watched the event.

Residents seek nighttime flight ban at U.S. base in Okinawa

Residents seek nighttime flight ban at U.S. base in Okinawa

OKINAWA, Japan - Plaintiffs and their supporters holding a banner that reads ''give us back our peaceful nights,'' enter the Okinawa branch of the Naha District Court to file a lawsuit demanding a nighttime flight ban at the U.S. Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture on April 28, 2011. About 22,000 residents around the base filed the noise pollution suit, also demanding compensation from the Japanese government.

Memorial held for World War II dead of Iwoto

Memorial held for World War II dead of Iwoto

IWOTO, Japan - Welfare Minister Akira Nagatsuma speaks at a government-held memorial on Iwoto Island in the Pacific on July 15, 2010, honoring the war dead. A bloody battle waged on the island far south of Tokyo in the final year of World War II claimed nearly 22,000 Japanese lives and left 29,000 U.S. casualties.

Honda to release Insight in U.S. March 24

Honda to release Insight in U.S. March 24

TOKYO, Japan - This photo shows a model of the Insight hybrid hatchback Honda Motor Co. will put on the U.S. market March 24. The price of the Insight will start at $19,800, compared with $22,000 for the standard model of the rival Prius of Toyota Motor Corp.

Matsutake harvest likely to be leanest in postwar years

Matsutake harvest likely to be leanest in postwar years

TOKYO, Japan - Matsutake mushrooms on sale at a grocery store outside the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo. According to the government's Forestry Agency, this year's harvest of homegrown matsutake mushrooms -- a delicacy in Japan -- is likely to hit the lowest level in more than 50 years due to the sizzling heat wave in August, and large matsutake mushrooms have fetched 15,000 yen to 20,000 yen apiece. In this photo, a large matsutake grown in Iwate carries a 22,000 yen price tag, 23,100 yen after the 5 percent consumption tax is included.

Japanese to complete 22,000-km Arctic trek in 2002

Japanese to complete 22,000-km Arctic trek in 2002

TACHIKAWA, Japan - A 57-year-old adventurer from Tokyo said he hopes to complete his 22,000-kilometer trek by dog sled across the Arctic from central Siberia to eastern Greenland in July 2002, more than five years since he set out on the journey and traveling nearly double the current long-distance record. Kazuo Kojima said he embarked on the trip because he wanted to follow the route supposedly taken by ancestors of the Inuits to reach the North American continent some 20,000 years ago. This photo was taken in May 2001, when Kojima and his Canadian teammate reached northern Canada after traveling some 2,500 km.