Goods featuring Hello Kitty and local mascot promote old pond

Goods featuring Hello Kitty and local mascot promote old pond

TONDABAYASHI, Japan - Products featuring "Sayarin," a local mascot promoting Osakasayama City in Osaka Prefecture, and Hello Kitty were shown at Osakasayama City hall on Sept. 1, 2014. The goods were put on sale to promote the western Japanese city's Sayamaike, Japan's oldest reservoir dating back to the Asuka period (592-710).

Insect exhibition under way in western Japan

Insect exhibition under way in western Japan

OSAKA, Japan - Butterfly samples, shown in this file photo taken on July 31, 2014, are among exhibits at an insect fair under way at the Osaka Prefectural Sayamaike Museum in Sayama, western Japan. The sample at the lower left is the Morpho zephyritis, a rare South American butterfly species.

Aiming for heritage status for reservoirs

Aiming for heritage status for reservoirs

TONDABAYASHI, Japan - Osakasayama Mayor Tomoyoshi Yoshida (R) and Gimje Mayor Lee Gun Sik shake hands after signing a document of mutual cooperation aiming to put ancient water reservoirs the Japanese and South Korean cities both host on the World Heritage list, at the Osakasayama city office in Osaka Prefecture on June 27, 2012. The Sayamaike reservoir built in the early seventh century in Osakasayama and South Korea's Byuk Gol Jae reservoir dating from the early fourth century were built using the same method in which leaves are inserted between layers of earth for fortification, representing East Asia's ancient irrigation techniques.

Aiming for heritage status for reservoirs

Aiming for heritage status for reservoirs

OSAKA, Japan - File photo taken in 2009 shows the Sayamaike reservoir built in the early seventh century in Osakasayama in Japan's Osaka Prefecture. The Japanese city and Gimje city in South Korea's North Jeolla Province on June 27, 2012, signed a document of mutual cooperation aiming to put ancient water reservoirs they both host on the World Heritage list. The Sayamaike reservoir and South Korea's Byuk Gol Jae reservoir dating from the early fourth century are built using the same special method in which leaves are inserted between layers of earth for fortification, representing East Asia's ancient irrigation techniques.

Goods featuring Hello Kitty and local mascot promote old pond

Goods featuring Hello Kitty and local mascot promote old pond

TONDABAYASHI, Japan - Products featuring "Sayarin," a local mascot promoting Osakasayama City in Osaka Prefecture, and Hello Kitty were shown at Osakasayama City hall on Sept. 1, 2014. The goods were put on sale to promote the western Japanese city's Sayamaike, Japan's oldest reservoir dating back to the Asuka period (592-710). (Kyodo)

Insect exhibition under way in western Japan

Insect exhibition under way in western Japan

OSAKA, Japan - Butterfly samples, shown in this file photo taken on July 31, 2014, are among exhibits at an insect fair under way at the Osaka Prefectural Sayamaike Museum in Sayama, western Japan. The sample at the lower left is the Morpho zephyritis, a rare South American butterfly species. (Kyodo)