Wakayama temples heralds spring with fire festival

Wakayama temples heralds spring with fire festival

HASHIMOTO, Japan - The Kongobuji temple in Koya, Wakayama Prefecture holds the ''Koya Fire Festival'' on March 4 to herald the arrival of spring and to expel evil spirits, with monks feeding prayer wood plaques into a 2.5-meter-high pyre especially built for the occasion

Tang, Kono promise Beijing reunion after Hakone cruise

Tang, Kono promise Beijing reunion after Hakone cruise

HAKONE, Japan - Visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan spent May 13 in Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, west of Tokyo, with Japanese Foreign Minister Yohei Kono, before returning home later in the day. Photo shows Kono (Second from R) and Tang (Third from L) planting a 2.5-meter-high kousa dogwood to commemorate the bilateral friendship near the hotel Tang stayed the night of May 12.

Wakayama temples heralds spring with fire festival

Wakayama temples heralds spring with fire festival

HASHIMOTO, Japan - The Kongobuji temple in Koya, Wakayama Prefecture holds the ''Koya Fire Festival'' on March 4 to herald the arrival of spring and to expel evil spirits, with monks feeding prayer wood plaques into a 2.5-meter-high pyre especially built for the occasion (Kyodo)

Kumamon goods shop in China

Kumamon goods shop in China

A 2.5-meter-high balloon representing Kumamon, the official black bear mascot of Japan's Kumamoto Prefecture, is on display on June 7, 2021, at a temporary shop dedicated to goods related to the mascot, which recently opened at a shopping complex in the suburbs of Shanghai.

Tang, Kono promise Beijing reunion after Hakone cruise

Tang, Kono promise Beijing reunion after Hakone cruise

HAKONE, Japan - Visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan spent May 13 in Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, west of Tokyo, with Japanese Foreign Minister Yohei Kono, before returning home later in the day. Photo shows Kono (Second from R) and Tang (Third from L) planting a 2.5-meter-high kousa dogwood to commemorate the bilateral friendship near the hotel Tang stayed the night of May 12.