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Foreign couple building theater on Japan mountain

NAGOYA, Japan - U.S. ceramic artist Steven Ward (R) and his Chilean wife Ximena Elgueda are building an open-air theater on a mountain in Mihama, Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, as seen in this file photo taken in November 2014. The project, launched 14 years ago, has drawn a total of 2,000 volunteer workers.

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'Bon' festival dance held in Bangkok for 1st time in 5 years

BANGKOK, Thailand - A gala "Bon" festival dance, hosted by the Japanese Association in Thailand, is held in Bangkok on Dec. 20, 2014, for the first time in five years with over 2,000 Japanese and Thais participating.

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1st 5 major cherry trees summit in Japan

KITAMOTO, Japan - Representatives of five Japanese municipalities known for their ancient cherry trees - (from L) Fujinomiya City of Shizuoka Prefecture, Hokuto City of Yamanashi Prefecture, Kitamoto City of Saitama Prefecture, Motosu City of Gifu Prefecture, and the town of Miharu of Fukushima Prefecture - join hands to pose for photos during their first summit meeting to discuss preservation methods and tourism promotion plans on March 23, 2014, in Kitamoto. Designated as natural treasures in 1922, the venerable trees are known as the "five major cherry trees of Japan" and range from 800 to 2,000 years of age.

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U.S. landscape painter enthralled by Lake Biwa

OTSU, Japan - Brian Williams, a Peruvian-born American painter, depicts Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture on April 9, 2013. Williams has lived near Lake Biwa for 29 years, producing over 2,000 pictures of the lake and its surrounding nature.

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Jiang Zemin appears in public

BEIJING, China - Former Chinese President Jiang Zemin (front C) attends a state ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Oct. 9, 2011, three months after speculation that he may have died or become seriously ill. He attended an event to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1911 revolution that ended 2,000 years of imperial rule in China. On center L is his successor, President Hu Jintao, and on center R is Premier Wen Jiabao. (Pool photo by Kyodo News)

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Jiang Zemin appears in public

BEIJING, China - Former Chinese President Jiang Zemin (R) and his successor, President Hu Jintao, chat during a state ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Oct. 9, 2011. Jiang attended an event to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1911 revolution that ended 2,000 years of imperial rule in Chin, three months after speculation that he may have died or become seriously ill. (Pool photo by Kyodo News)

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Jiang Zemin appears in public

BEIJING, China - Former Chinese President Jiang Zemin (R) and his successor, President Hu Jintao, shake hands during a state ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Oct. 9, 2011. Jiang attended an event to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1911 revolution that ended 2,000 years of imperial rule in Chin, three months after speculation that he may have died or become seriously ill. (Pool photo by Kyodo News)

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Jiang Zemin appears in public

BEIJING, China - Former Chinese President Jiang Zemin (R) attends a state ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Oct. 9, 2011, three months after speculation that he may have died or become seriously ill. He attended an event to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1911 revolution that ended 2,000 years of imperial rule in China. On the left is his successor, Chinese President Hu Jintao. (Pool photo by Kyodo News)

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Jiang Zemin appears in public

BEIJING, China - Former Chinese President Jiang Zemin (C) attends a state ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Oct. 9, 2011, three months after speculation that he may have died or become seriously ill. He attended an event to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1911 revolution that ended 2,000 years of imperial rule in China. On the left is his successor, Chinese President Hu Jintao. (Pool photo by Kyodo News)

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Jiang Zemin appears in public

BEIJING, China - Former Chinese President Jiang Zemin (front) attends a state ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Oct. 9, 2011, three months after speculation that he may have died or become seriously ill. He attended an event to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1911 revolution that ended 2,000 years of imperial rule in China. (Pool photo by Kyodo News)

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Strong popularity may lead to curbs on climbing Yaku Island

KAGOSHIMA, Japan - Travelers flock to the Japanese Jomon cedar trees presumed to be 2,000 years old on the World Heritage island of Yaku, Kagoshima Prefecture, on June 27.

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Japan's oldest boat-shaped wooden coffin excavated in Nagoya

NAGOYA, Japan - Photo taken Feb. 21 shows part of what is believed to be Japan's oldest boat-shaped coffin which was excavated in the Hiratecho ruins in Nagoya's Kita Ward. The city's Board of Education said the coffin is believed to be made some 2,000 years ago, or in the latter period of the mid-Yayoi Era. The 2.8-meter-long, 80-centimeter-wide ''boat'' is placed with its bow facing northwest. Hisao Suzuki, who heads the board's cultural assets conservation section, said it is presumed that the bow faced the sunset as ancient people thought the coffin was a vehicle to take the deceased person to the afterlife.

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1st-type shinkansen train ends regular run

OKAYAMA, Japan - About 2,000 railway geeks pack Okayama Station on Nov. 30 to see off a round-nose ''0 Series'' shinkansen bullet train, one of Japan's first types of shinkansen bullet train models, as the train leaves for Hakata Station on its last regular run, 44 years after the model made its debut.

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Mirror from Hyogo tomb mound identified as Chinese

KOBE, Japan - This mirror, unearthed from a tomb mound in Toyooka, Hyogo Prefecture in 1917, was made in China some 2,000 years ago and is the oldest mirror discovered in the northern Kinki region, western Japan, archeologists said Feb. 20. The mirror discovered at the Morio mound was determined by experts to have been made during China's Wang Mang period (A.D. 8-23) based on its form and inscriptions.

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Japan to give some $620,000 for conservation project in China

TOKYO, Japan - Japan decided Nov. 9, 2001 to give $623,798 to the first phase of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) Longmen grottoes (undated file photo) conservation project to help preserve the sculptures carved in cave walls over a millennium ago in China. The more than 2,000 grottoes, located in Henan Province, contain about 110,000 Buddhist sculptures over a period of 400 years from the late period of the Northern Wei Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty (493-907).

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Bank of Japan begins circulating 2,000-yen notes

TOKYO, Japan - Bank of Japan (BOJ) officials begin distributing 2,000-yen banknotes, the country's first new banknote in 42 years, to financial institutions at its head office in Tokyo's Nihombashi on July 19.

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2,000-yen banknotes to be issued July 19

TOKYO, Japan - The Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Japan announced April 21 that 2,000-yen banknotes will be issued for the first time July 19. The photo, taken April 21, shows the obverse side (top) featuring Shureimon Gate in Naha, considered a symbol of Okinawa Prefecture, and the reverse side (bottom), portraying a scene from ''The Tale of Genji,'' a Japanese novel written nearly 1,000 years ago. The latest antiforgery technology is used in the printing of the new bills.