ISE, Japan — Deep in the forests of the Japanese Alps, Shinto priests keep watch as woodsmen dressed in ceremonial white chop their axes into two ancient cypress trees, timing their swings so that ...

THE LARGEST AND most active Shinto shrine in the mainland United States, and arguably the North American continent, is not in Seattle. Nor is it in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose or any other ...

ISE, Japan — Every two decades for the last 1,300 years, Ise Jingu, Japan’s most revered Shinto shrine, has been knocked down and rebuilt from scratch. The massive, $390 million demolition and ...

ISE, Japan — Deep in the forests of the Japanese Alps, Shinto priests keep watch as woodsmen dressed in ceremonial white chop their axes into two ancient cypress trees, timing their swings so that ...

In Japan, one of the most important aspects of a religious experience is the approach to the place of worship. This path is meant to enable the mind to shift more easily from worldly to spiritual ...

Living and traveling in Japan, you are bound to come across one of the thousands of temples and shrines that dot the cities and countryside alike. Whether a Shinto shrine or a Buddhist temple, most ...

Deep in the forests of the Japanese Alps, Shinto priests watch as woodsmen, clad in ceremonial white, fell two ancient cypress trees. Their axes strike from three precise directions, timed with ...