Search｜Photos & Images & Videos｜KYODO NEWS IMAGES INC

Traditional dance for noodle production in Japan

Women in traditional kimono attire perform a dance depicting the production process of Miwa Somen, a popular noodle in summer, during a festival celebrating the end of the peak season of its production at Omiwa shrine in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, western Japan, on Aug. 26, 2025.

E

Traditional dance for noodle production in Japan

Women in traditional kimono attire perform a dance depicting the production process of Miwa Somen, a popular noodle in summer, during a festival celebrating the end of the peak season of its production at Omiwa shrine in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, western Japan, on Aug. 26, 2025.

E

New "shimenawa" straw rope for New Year

Visitors to Omiwa Shrine in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, western Japan, replace a 400-kilogram "shimenawa," lengths of laid straw rope, with a new one ahead of the New Year.

E

New cedar ball in western Japan shrine

Photo taken on Nov. 13, 2023, shows a newly installed "osugidama" cedar ball at Omiwa Shrine, known for enshrining the god of sake, in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, western Japan.

E

New cedar ball in western Japan shrine

A shrine maiden attaches a wooden tag onto a fresh green "osugidama" cedar ball at Omiwa Shrine, known for enshrining the god of sake, in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, western Japan, on Nov. 13, 2023.

E

Fire drill at Nara shrine

"Miko" shrine attendants participate in a bucket relay during a fire drill at Omiwa Shrine in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, western Japan, on Jan. 25, 2023. The hall of worship and the three torii gates are designated as important national cultural properties.

E

Fire drill at Nara shrine

Firefighters spray water during a fire drill at Omiwa Shrine in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, western Japan, on Jan. 25, 2023. The hall of worship and the three torii gates are designated as important national cultural properties.

E

Emperor, empress arrive at Omiwa shrine in Nara Pref.

SAKURAI, Japan - Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko arrive at Omiwa Jinja, a Shinto shrine in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, western Japan, on Nov. 17, 2014.

E

Shinto ritual in Nara Pref. to determine market price of ''somen'' noodles

TONDABAYASHI, Japan - Women perform the ''Somen Kakeuta'' on Feb. 5, 2014, during Bokujosai, a Shinto ritual at Omiwa Shrine in the city of Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, that determines the year's market price for thin ''somen'' noodles. The area is famous for handmade Miwa somen noodles.

E

Shinto ritual fixes market price of "somen" noodles in west Japan

Women perform a Shinto ritual known as "Bokujosai" at Omiwa Shrine in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, western Japan, on Feb. 5, 2014, to determine the year's market price for thin "somen" noodles. The area is famous for handmade Miwa brand somen noodles. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

Ritual for end of epidemic at western Japan shrine

A ritual to pray for an early end of epidemics is held on April 18, 2021, amid the coronavirus pandemic, at Omiwa shrine in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, in the presence of pharmaceutical company officials from Nara and neighboring prefectures in western Japan.

E

Shrine raises ornament ball of cedar leaves ahead of "sake" festival

A new "osugidama," or a big ornament ball made of cedar leaves, is raised at Omiwa Shrine in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, western Japan, on Nov. 13, 2015, to replace an old one during an annual ceremony a day before the start of the shrine's "sake" rice wine festival. Such a ball is traditionally hung from the eaves of sake breweries in Japan to announce that new rice wine has been made, and Omiwa is a tutelary shrine for Japanese breweries. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

Noodle making-inspired ritual performed at west Japan shrine

Women perform "Somen Kakeuta," a song and dance depicting the process of making somen (thin noodles), during a thanksgiving ritual at Omiwa Shrine in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, western Japan, on Aug. 27, 2015. The area is famous for the Miwa brand of handmade somen noodles. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

Emperor, empress arrive at Omiwa shrine in Nara Pref.

SAKURAI, Japan - Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko arrive at Omiwa Jinja, a Shinto shrine in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, western Japan, on Nov. 17, 2014. (Kyodo)