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New tram starts operating north of Tokyo

UTSUNOMIYA, Japan, Aug. 26 Kyodo - A light rail transit train carrying children and others runs through Utsunomiya in Tochigi Prefecture, north of Tokyo, after a ceremony commemorating the start of the service is held at JR Utsunomiya Station on Aug. 26, 2023. Japan's first new tram system in 75 years covers the 14.6-kilometer route between the station and the nearby town of Haga in 48 minutes.

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Restored "Three Wise Monkeys" in Nikko unveiled

UTSUNOMIYA, Japan, March 30 Kyodo - The "Sanzau" (Three Wise Monkeys) wooden carving at the Nikko Toshogu shrine, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture, is unveiled on March 30, 2017, at the completion of a restoration project undertaken since last June. The three monkeys covering their eyes, ears and mouth are famous for the "see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil" poses.

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Lightup Nikko event to start at World Heritage site

UTSUNOMIYA, Japan - The five-story pagoda of Nikko Toshogu Shrine in the city of Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture, which is part of "Shrines and Temples of Nikko", a UNESCO World Heritage site, is lit up on a trial basis before an annual "Lightup Nikko" event, which will run from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2.

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Nikko's World Heritage temple partially lit up

UTSUNOMIYA, Japan - The Gomado Hall of Rinnoji Temple at Nikko Toshogu Shrine, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is illuminated on a trial basis in Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture, north of Tokyo, on Oct. 30, 2014, on the eve of the three-day "Light up Nikko 2014" event.

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Samurai grand parade at Nikko Toshogu for autumn festival

UTSUNOMIYA, Japan - A grand procession of men dressed in samurai costumes, a 400-year-old tradition known as the Procession of 1,000 Samurai, takes place during the Autumn Festival at Nikko Toshogu, a Shinto shrine in Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture in eastern Japan, on Oct. 17, 2014.

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Samurai grand parade at Nikko Toshogu for autumn festival

UTSUNOMIYA, Japan - A grand procession of men dressed in warrior costumes, a 400-year-old tradition known as the Procession of 1,000 Samurai, takes place during the Autumn Festival at Nikko Toshogu, a Shinto shrine in Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture in eastern Japan, on Oct. 17, 2014.

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Samurai grand parade at Nikko Toshogu for autumn festival

UTSUNOMIYA, Japan - A grand procession of men dressed in samurai costumes, a 400-year-old tradition known as the Procession of 1,000 Samurai, takes place during the Autumn Festival at Nikko Toshogu, a Shinto shrine in Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture in eastern Japan, on Oct. 17, 2014.

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Graduation ceremony held for popular monkey group in Nikko

UTSUNOMIYA, Japan - A member of a popular monkey performance group at the Nikko Saru Gundan theme park receives a diploma at a "graduation ceremony" in Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture, on Dec. 21, 2013. The park opened in 1992 in Nikko, one of the most popular tourist destinations in Japan, and became popular because of the monkey performances. But it will close at the end of this year because foreign monkey trainers left Japan after the devastating 2011 earthquake.

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Graduation ceremony held for popular monkey group in Nikko

UTSUNOMIYA, Japan - A popular group of monkeys attend a "graduation ceremony" at the Nikko Saru Gundan theme park in Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture, on Dec. 21, 2013. The park opened in 1992 in Nikko, one of the most popular tourist destinations in Japan, and became popular because of the monkey performances. But it will close at the end of this year because foreign monkey trainers left Japan after the devastating 2011 earthquake.

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Gate of Nikko Toshogu shrine

UTSUNOMIYA, Japan - Photo taken Sept. 24, 2012, shows the Yomeimon gate of Nikko Toshogu shrine in Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture. The famed gate will undergo a six-year restoration starting in the spring of 2013.

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Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma unit inspected

UTSUNOMIYA, Japan - Photo taken on Jan. 26, 2011, shows a plant of Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Factory Ltd., a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corp., in Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture. Government officials inspected the plant the same day, suspecting it shipped out drugs without checking their quality.

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Alpaca sheared

UTSUNOMIYA, Japan - An alpaca is clipped by shearers from Peru as shearing begins at Nasu Alpaca Farm in Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture, on June 10, 2010. The shearers plan to clip about 350 alpacas at the farm to use the fur for carpets and other purposes and to improve the animals' health before summer weather.

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Specialist testifies Sugaya's DNA did not match evidence

UTSUNOMIYA, Japan - At the Tochigi prefectural government building, 63-year-old ex-convict Toshikazu Sugaya, who was wrongly arrested and sentenced to life in prison, speaks during a news conference on Nov. 24, 2009, after his trial at the Utsunomiya District Court. Sugaya was arrested and indicted in December 1991 on suspicion of killing a 4-year-old girl in Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture in May 1990, but the latest trial is expected to formally exonerate him, finding he was wrongly convicted.

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Ex-Labor Minister Murakami on parole from prison term

UTSUNOMIYA, Japan - This undated file photo shows former Labor Minister Masakuni Murakami, who was released on parole on Oct. 28, 2009, before the end of his 26-month prison term for taking bribes in the late 1990s from a mutual aid organization for small and midsize businesses.

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Police chief apologizes to released man

UTSUNOMIYA, Japan - The chief of the Tochigi prefectural police, Shoichiro Ishikawa (R), apologizes to Toshikazu Sugaya (L), 62, who appears to have been wrongfully convicted for the 1990 murder of a 4-year-old girl in Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture. Sugaya was released from 17 years of prison earlier this month.

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Police chief apologizes to released man

UTSUNOMIYA, Japan - The chief of the Tochigi prefectural police, Shoichiro Ishikawa (R), apologizes to Toshikazu Sugaya (2nd from L), 62, who appears to have been wrongfully convicted for the 1990 murder of a 4-year-old girl in Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture. Sugaya was released from 17 years of prison earlier this month.

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JR East develops lithium-diesel hybrid train

UTSUNOMIYA, Japan - An experimental hybrid train is opened for press preview in Utsunomiya in December 2005. JR East plans to start operations of the train service in the summer of 2007.

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(3)Gangster, girlfriend kill selves as police storm condo

UTSUNOMIYA, Japan - A policeman aims his gun May 20 as his colleagues storm a condominium in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, where a gangster had holed himself up with his girlfriend for 44 hours. The couple were found shot dead in an apparent double suicide, police said.

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Fire contained at Bridgestone tire plant

UTSUNOMIYA, Japan - A fire at a Bridgestone Corp. tire plant in Kuroiso, Tochigi Prefecture, was contained Sept. 9 after burning for about 24 hours. More than 5,000 residents returned home after the evacuation order was lifted.

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(1)Bridgestone plant on fire, no injuries

UTSUNOMIYA, Japan - A helicopter flies over the Bridgestone Corp. tire plant in Kuroiso, Tochigi Prefecture, on Sept. 8 in a bid to extinguish a fire that broke out at a facility for mixing chemicals and rubber. The fire forced nearby residents to evacuate, but no one was injured.

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(1)World's longest tree-lined avenue in Tochigi under threat

UTSUNOMIYA, Japan - A 35.4-kilometer stretch of cedar trees in Tochigi Prefecture that forms the world's longest tree-lined avenue is dying at the pace of 100 trees a year, according to a recent prefectural government study. The study cites as likely causes the difficulty that the trees have faced taking root due to asphalt pavements and the effects of automobile exhaust.

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(2)World's longest tree-lined avenue in Tochigi under threat

UTSUNOMIYA, Japan - A 35.4-kilometer stretch of cedar trees in Tochigi Prefecture that forms the world's longest tree-lined avenue is dying at the pace of 100 trees a year, according to a recent prefectural government study. The study cites as likely causes the difficulty that the trees have faced taking root due to asphalt pavements and the effects of automobile exhaust.

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Employee in serious condition after bitten by lioness

UTSUNOMIYA, Japan - This picture shows an aerial view of Nasu Safari Park in Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture. Yasuki Uchiyama, a 21-year-old male employee was seriously injured on Dec. 25 after being mauled by a 14-year-old lioness. Uchiyama and a female zoo worker were cleaning a pen for the lions when the attack occurred. The lion cage is located on the right side of the picture in the center.

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Body recovered from suspected arson blaze at Utsunomiya shop

UTSUNOMIYA, Japan - Investigators recover a body June 11 from a jewelry shop in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, after a blaze there killed six female employees. Arson is suspected. The fire gutted the first floor of the Utsunomiya branch of Tsutsumi Jewelry Co.

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Museum in memory of Auschwitz opened in Japan

UTSUNOMIYA, Japan - A group of volunteers cut a tape April 16 to open a peace museum which will display photos and belongings of Jews killed at the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland during World War II. The museum was built in the town of Shioya, Tochigi Prefecture in eastern Japan.

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3,500 people attend anti-AUM rally in Tochigi Pref.

UTSUNOMIYA, Japan - About 3,500 people gather at a rally in Otawara, Tochigi Prefecture on Aug. 8, demanding that members of the AUM Shinrikyo cult who have taken up residence in the city move out. The participants, bearing placards that read, ''AUM get out immediately,'' chant slogans, while AUM members blare cult songs from speakers. AUM founder Shoko Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, and a number of AUM members are on trial on murder and attempted murder charges in such cases as the 1995 Tokyo subway gassing, in which 12 people died and more than 5,300 were injured.