Kurozumi-kyo grassroots Shinto chief chants sunrise prayer

Kurozumi-kyo grassroots Shinto chief chants sunrise prayer

TOKYO, Japan - Muneharu Kurozumi (L), chief patriarch of the Kurozumi-kyo school of grassroots Shinto, chants a purification sunrise prayer at the sect's headquarters in Okayama, western Japan, as seen in this file photo taken on Aug. 7, 2014. The practice has continued since the foundation of the sect in 1814, with this year marking its 200th anniversary.

Products of western Japan introduced at Expo Milano 2015

Products of western Japan introduced at Expo Milano 2015

Muneharu Nakagai (C), mayor of the western Japanese city of Toyooka, participates in an event to introduce products of Hyogo Prefecture at the Japan Pavilion of Expo Milano 2015 on July 16, 2015, (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

S. Korea releases artificially bred oriental storks for 1st time

S. Korea releases artificially bred oriental storks for 1st time

An artificially bred oriental white stork is released into the wild in Yesan county, western South Korea, on Sept. 3, 2015. It was one of eight storks released in South Korea's first such attempt to revive the species that had become extinct in the local wilderness by 1971. On the right is Muneharu Nakagai, mayor of the western Japanese city of Toyooka that provided six birds to South Korea for the project. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Kurozumi-kyo grassroots Shinto chief chants sunrise prayer

Kurozumi-kyo grassroots Shinto chief chants sunrise prayer

TOKYO, Japan - Muneharu Kurozumi (L), chief patriarch of the Kurozumi-kyo school of grassroots Shinto, chants a purification sunrise prayer at the sect's headquarters in Okayama, western Japan, as seen in this file photo taken on Aug. 7, 2014. The practice has continued since the foundation of the sect in 1814, with this year marking its 200th anniversary. (Kyodo)