Crown princess visits art festival in western Japan

Crown princess visits art festival in western Japan

Japanese Crown Princess Kiko (2nd from L) and her daughter Princess Kako view art installations on display at Setouchi Triennale 2025 at a port in Takamatsu in the western Japan prefecture of Kagawa on Oct. 2, 2025.

Comet observed in Japan

Comet observed in Japan

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is observed in the Okayama Prefecture city of Setouchi, western Japan, on Oct. 1, 2024.

Comet observed in Japan

Comet observed in Japan

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is observed in the Okayama Prefecture city of Setouchi, western Japan, on Oct. 1, 2024.

Comet observed in Japan

Comet observed in Japan

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is observed in the Okayama Prefecture city of Setouchi, western Japan, on Oct. 1, 2024.

Indian coral tree in full bloom in southwestern Japan

Indian coral tree in full bloom in southwestern Japan

The flowers of Erythrina trees, commonly known as tiger's claw or Indian coral tree, that are 300 years old, in the town of Setouchi on Kakeroma Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, at full bloom on May 16, 2023.

Indian coral tree in full bloom in southwestern Japan

Indian coral tree in full bloom in southwestern Japan

The flowers of Erythrina trees, commonly known as tiger's claw or Indian coral tree, that are 300 years old, in the town of Setouchi on Kakeroma Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, at full bloom on May 16, 2023.

Japanese pottery artist fires huge kiln

Japanese pottery artist fires huge kiln

OKAYAMA, Japan - Togaku Mori, a "Bizen-yaki" pottery artist, stands by his huge kiln following initial firing in Setouchi, Okayama Prefecture, western Japan, on Jan. 4, 2015. Having some 2,000 pots inside, the 85-meter-long kiln is fired night and day for 90 days.

Ground broken for big solar power plant in west Japan

Ground broken for big solar power plant in west Japan

SETOUCHI, Japan - A groundbreaking ceremony is held in Setouchi, Okayama Prefecture, western Japan, on Nov. 7, 2014, to build one of the biggest solar power plants in Japan in a project undertaken by a group of companies including General Electric Co. of the United States.

Masked men dance on Kagoshima Pref. island

Masked men dance on Kagoshima Pref. island

KAGOSHIMA, Japan - Men wearing paper masks perform a dance during the traditional Shodon Shibaya play on Kakeroma Island, Setouchi Town, Kagoshima Prefecture, on Oct. 2, 2014. It is said to have been taught by the Heike clan's Taira no Sukemori who built a house in Kakeroma's Shodon after losing the battle of "Gen-Pei."

'Wild Boar' nears onlookers in Shodon Shibaya play

'Wild Boar' nears onlookers in Shodon Shibaya play

KAGOSHIMA, Japan - A "wild boar" approaches spectators during this year's traditional "Shodon Shibaya" play, Japan's important intangible folk cultural property, in Setouchi town's Kakeroma Island, Kagoshima Prefecture, on Oct. 2, 2014.

Man cuts rope during harvest festival on Amami-Oshima

Man cuts rope during harvest festival on Amami-Oshima

AMAMI, Japan - A man wearing a lion mask cuts the rope during the traditional "Honen Odori" festival to pray for a good harvest in the town of Setouchi on Amami-Oshima Island, Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on Sept. 8, 2014.

Setouchi Town on Amami to accept GSDF unit

Setouchi Town on Amami to accept GSDF unit

AMAMI, Japan - Katsuomi Fusa (2nd from R), mayor of Setouchi Town on Amami-Oshima Island, Kagoshima Prefecture, tells Parliamentary Senior Vice Minister of Defense Ryota Takeda (R in near row) of his decision to accept the deployment of a Japanese Ground Self-Defense unit to the area during a meeting at the town office on Aug. 12, 2014.

Drill to recapture island from enemy forces

Drill to recapture island from enemy forces

AMAMI, Japan - Members of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force who participated in a drill to recapture a remote island from enemy forces are seen off Amami-Oshima Island's Setouchi Town, Kagoshima Prefecture, on May 22, 2014.

GSDF conducts drill to retake occupied islet

GSDF conducts drill to retake occupied islet

SETOUCHI, Japan - Ground Self-Defense Force personnel trained to protect Japan's remote islands conduct a landing exercise on an uninhabited island in the Amami Islands chain on May 22, 2014. A group of reporters was given access to the island retake drill.

GSDF conducts drill to retake occupied islet

GSDF conducts drill to retake occupied islet

SETOUCHI, Japan - Ground Self-Defense Force personnel trained to protect Japan's remote islands conduct a landing exercise on an uninhabited island in the Amami Islands chain on May 22, 2014. A group of reporters was given access to the island retake drill.

GSDF conducts drill to retake occupied islet

GSDF conducts drill to retake occupied islet

SETOUCHI, Japan - Ground Self-Defense Force personnel trained to protect Japan's remote islands conduct a landing exercise on an uninhabited island in the Amami Islands chain on May 22, 2014. A group of reporters was given access to the island retake drill.

GSDF conducts drill to retake occupied islet

GSDF conducts drill to retake occupied islet

SETOUCHI, Japan - Ground Self-Defense Force personnel trained to protect Japan's remote islands conduct a landing exercise on an uninhabited island in the Amami Islands chain on May 22, 2014. A group of reporters was given access to the island retake drill.

GSDF conducts drill to retake occupied islet

GSDF conducts drill to retake occupied islet

SETOUCHI, Japan - Ground Self-Defense Force personnel trained to protect Japan's remote islands conduct a landing exercise on an uninhabited island in the Amami Islands chain on May 22, 2014. A group of reporters was given access to the island retake drill.

GSDF conducts drill to retake occupied islet

GSDF conducts drill to retake occupied islet

SETOUCHI, Japan - Ground Self-Defense Force personnel trained to protect Japan's remote islands conduct a landing exercise on an uninhabited island in the Amami Islands chain on May 22, 2014. A group of reporters was given access to the island retake drill.

Book by Japanese TV team wins Gourmand cookbook award

Book by Japanese TV team wins Gourmand cookbook award

BEIJING, China - TV Setouchi producer Miho Endo (L) and newscaster Hifumi Asai smile after the book "Obachan no Daidokoro Genki ni Kurasu Kenko Recipe" (Grandma's Kitchen - Recipes for healthy living) won the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards' Outside Europe Grand Prix at the award ceremony in the suburbs of Beijing on May 21, 2014. TV Setouchi Broadcasting Co. is based in Okayama City, western Japan.

Ehime Gov. Nakamura receives comedians' courtesy visit

Ehime Gov. Nakamura receives comedians' courtesy visit

MATSUYAMA, Japan - Ehime Gov. Tokihiro Nakamura (2nd from L) poses for photos with visitors including female comedian Tamayo Shimada (L) in the prefectural government office building in Matsuyama on May 8, 2014, as part of the promotion of the Setouchi Shimanowa 2014 project.

Hiroshima, Ehime governors attend regional promotional event

Hiroshima, Ehime governors attend regional promotional event

HIROSHIMA, Japan - Hiroshima Gov. Hidehiko Yuzaki (front L) and Ehime Gov. Tokihiro Nakamura (front R) pose for photos at a commemorative event for the "Setouchi Shimanowa 2014" exposition held on Miyajima island in Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, on March 21, 2014. The exposition, aimed at promoting the Seto Inland Sea area between the two prefectures in western Japan, involves various events scheduled to run through Oct. 26.

Ehime, Hiroshima eye to draw 8,000 people in cycling event

Ehime, Hiroshima eye to draw 8,000 people in cycling event

MATSUYAMA, Japan - Ehime Gov. Tokihiro Nakamura speaks during a press conference on March 19, 2014, at the Ehime prefectural government building about an Oct. 26 international cycling event to be held along the Nishiseto Expressway, commonly known as the Setouchi Shimanami Kaido, linking Ehime Prefecture's Imabari and Onomichi of Hiroshima Prefecture. The two western Japan prefectures aim to attract 8,000 participants.

Setouchi Triennale 2013

Setouchi Triennale 2013

TAKAMATSU, Japan - Photo shows the garden of a museum on the island of Teshima, Kagawa Prefecture, where the museum and artwork will be on display during the summer season of the Setouchi Triennale 2013 art festival. The museum, which occupies a Japanese house converted to its new purpose by artist Tadanori Yokoo and others, was shown to the press on July 19, 2013.

Setouchi Triennale 2013

Setouchi Triennale 2013

TAKAMATSU, Japan - Photo shows a museum converted from a Japanese house by artist Tadanori Yokoo and others on the island of Teshima, Kagawa Prefecture. The museum, which along with its artwork will be on display during the summer season of the Setouchi Triennale 2013 art festival, was shown to the press on July 19, 2013.

Int'l modern art festival on Japan islets

Int'l modern art festival on Japan islets

TAKAMATSU, Japan - Japanese actress Kaho Minami performs in a digest version of an outdoor play based on Hans Christian Andersen's ''The Little Mermaid,'' in an opening event of the Setouchi Triennale 2013 in the town of Naoshima, Kagawa Prefecture, on March 20, 2013. The Setouchi Triennale 2013, a contemporary art show featuring the works of more than 200 artists from 23 countries and regions, opened the same day on a cluster of 12 small islands in the Seto Inland Sea in western Japan.

Int'l modern art festival on Japan islets

Int'l modern art festival on Japan islets

TAKAMATSU, Japan - Photo shows an artwork created by Wang Wen-chih from Taiwan, in the town of Shodoshima, Kagawa Prefecture, on March 19, 2013. The Setouchi Triennale 2013, a contemporary art show featuring the works of more than 200 artists from 23 countries and regions, opened on March 20 on a cluster of 12 small islands in the Seto Inland Sea in western Japan.

Int'l modern art festival on Japan islets

Int'l modern art festival on Japan islets

TAKAMATSU, Japan - Photo shows ''ANGER from the Bottom,'' an artwork co-created by Beat Takeshi, internationally known as film director Takeshi Kitano, and contemporary artist Kenji Yanobe, in the town of Shodoshima, Kagawa Prefecture, on March 19, 2013. The Setouchi Triennale 2013, a contemporary art show featuring the works of more than 200 artists from 23 countries and regions, opened on March 20 on a cluster of 12 small islands in the Seto Inland Sea in western Japan.

Int'l modern art festival on Japan islets

Int'l modern art festival on Japan islets

TAKAMATSU, Japan - Photo shows ''The Star ANGER,'' created by contemporary artist Kenji Yanobe, in the town of Shodoshima, Kagawa Prefecture, on March 19, 2013. The Setouchi Triennale 2013, a contemporary art show featuring the works of more than 200 artists from 23 countries and regions, opened on March 20 on a cluster of 12 small islands in the Seto Inland Sea in western Japan.

Writers join anti-nuclear hunger strike

Writers join anti-nuclear hunger strike

TOKYO, Japan - (From front R to L) writer Hisae Sawachi, novelist and Buddhist nun Jakucho Setouchi and writer Satoshi Kamata join a hunger strike on May 2, 2012, in front of the industry ministry in Tokyo in protest against the government's moves to restart idled reactors at the Oi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture.

Writers join anti-nuclear hunger strike

Writers join anti-nuclear hunger strike

TOKYO, Japan - (From front R to L) writer Hisae Sawachi, novelist and Buddhist nun Jakucho Setouchi and writer Satoshi Kamata join a hunger strike on May 2, 2012, in front of the industry ministry in Tokyo in protest against the government's moves to restart idled reactors at the Oi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture.

Writers join anti-nuclear hunger strike

Writers join anti-nuclear hunger strike

TOKYO, Japan - (From L to R) writer Satoshi Kamata, novelist and Buddhist nun Jakucho Setouchi and writer Hisae Sawachi join a hunger strike on May 2, 2012, in front of the industry ministry in Tokyo in protest against the government's moves to restart idled reactors at the Oi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture.

Emperor Akihito, Empress Michiko host spring garden party

Emperor Akihito, Empress Michiko host spring garden party

TOKYO, Japan - Emperor Akihito (3rd from L) and Empress Michiko (2nd from L) talk with novelist Jakucho Setouchi (3rd from R) and other invited guests at an annual spring garden party at Akasaka Imperial Gardens in Tokyo on April 26. Some 1,970 quests were invited to the party.

Leprosy patents still feeling unease about future

Leprosy patents still feeling unease about future

OKAYAMA, Japan - National Sanatorium Nagashima Aiseien is located on Nagashima Island in Setouchi, Okayama Prefecture.

Writer Setouchi, 4 others receive Order of Culture

Writer Setouchi, 4 others receive Order of Culture

TOKYO, Japan - This year's five winners of the Order of Culture -- (From L to R) novelist Jakucho Setouchi, economist Miyohei Shinohara, music critic Hidekazu Yoshida, Japanese-style painter Chusaku Oyama and professor of welding engineering Yoshiaki Arata -- pose for photos at a garden at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Nov. 3.

3rd Honshu-Shikoku expressway opens

3rd Honshu-Shikoku expressway opens

A fleet of yachts sail under the Tatara Grand Bridge on May 1, commemorating the opening of the 10-bridge Setouchi Shimanami-Kaido expressway, the third set of roads and bridges linking Honshu and Shikoku, two of Japan's four main islands.

Nippon Steel steelworks in western Japan city+

Nippon Steel steelworks in western Japan city+

HIMEJI, Japan, Oct. 12 Kyodo - File photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter on June 24, 2021, shows Nippon Steel Corp.'s Setouchi steelworks in the Hirohata district of Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan.

Drone delivery test on southwestern Japan islands

Drone delivery test on southwestern Japan islands

A drone carrying merchandise takes off from Amami-Oshima Island in the southwestern Japan prefecture of Kagoshima on June 29, 2022, to fly to a tiny inhabited island, part of the town of Setouchi in the prefecture, in a test to check the viability of delivering goods in the event of disasters and the cancellation of regular ferry services.

Drone delivery test on southwestern Japan islands

Drone delivery test on southwestern Japan islands

A drone arrives on a tiny inhabited island, part of the southwestern Japan town of Setouchi in Kagoshima Prefecture, on June 29, 2022, after leaving Amami-Oshima Island in the prefecture to test the viability of delivering merchandise in the event of disasters and the cancellation of regular ferry services.

Memorial service for Jakucho Setouchi

People gather at the home of the late Japanese novelist and Buddhist nun Jakucho Setouchi in Kyoto on Dec. 9, 2021, to attend a memorial service being held one month after her death.

Memorial service for Jakucho Setouchi

Memorial service for Jakucho Setouchi

People gather at the home of the late Japanese novelist and Buddhist nun Jakucho Setouchi in Kyoto on Dec. 9, 2021, to attend a memorial service being held one month after her death. (Pool photo)

Memorial service for Jakucho Setouchi

Memorial service for Jakucho Setouchi

Photo taken in Kyoto on Dec. 9, 2021, shows an altar set up at the home of the late Japanese novelist and Buddhist nun Jakucho Setouchi for her memorial service being held one month after her death. (Pool photo)

Memorial service for Jakucho Setouchi

Memorial service for Jakucho Setouchi

People pray on Dec. 9, 2021, at an altar set up at the home of the late Japanese novelist and Buddhist nun Jakucho Setouchi for a memorial service being held one month after her death. (Pool photo)

Memorial service for Jakucho Setouchi

Memorial service for Jakucho Setouchi

People line up at the home of the late Japanese novelist and Buddhist nun Jakucho Setouchi in Kyoto on Dec. 9, 2021, to attend a memorial service being held one month after her death.

Memorial service for Jakucho Setouchi

Memorial service for Jakucho Setouchi

People arrive at the home of the late Japanese novelist and Buddhist nun Jakucho Setouchi in Kyoto on Dec. 9, 2021, to attend her memorial service being held one month after her death. (Pool photo)

Memorial service for Jakucho Setouchi

Memorial service for Jakucho Setouchi

Photo taken in Kyoto on Dec. 9, 2021, shows an altar set up at the home of the late Japanese novelist and Buddhist nun Jakucho Setouchi for her memorial service being held one month after her death. (Pool photo)

Memorial service for Jakucho Setouchi

Memorial service for Jakucho Setouchi

People arrive at the home of the late Japanese novelist and Buddhist nun Jakucho Setouchi in Kyoto on Dec. 9, 2021, to attend her memorial service being held one month after her death.

People lament death of novelist, Buddhist nun Setouchi

People lament death of novelist, Buddhist nun Setouchi

A woman signs a condolence book for Japanese novelist and Buddhist nun Jakucho Setouchi at Tokushima Prefectural Museum of Literature and Calligraphy in Tokushima, western Japan, on Nov. 12, 2021, a day after her recent death was reported. Setouchi had served as honorary director of the museum.

People lament death of novelist, Buddhist nun Setouchi

People lament death of novelist, Buddhist nun Setouchi

A man prays before a condolence book stand for Japanese novelist and Buddhist nun Jakucho Setouchi at Tokushima Prefectural Museum of Literature and Calligraphy in Tokushima, western Japan, on Nov. 12, 2021, a day after her recent death was reported. Setouchi had served as honorary director of the museum.

Novelist, Buddhist nun Setouchi dies at 99

Novelist, Buddhist nun Setouchi dies at 99

File photo taken in October 2015 shows Japanese Buddhist nun and novelist Jakucho Setouchi preaching at Tendai-ji temple in Ninohe in Iwate Prefecture, northeastern Japan. Setouchi, who was also active in anti-war and anti-nuclear movements, died of heart failure on Nov. 9, 2021, at age 99.