| Sep 27, 2013

International artists flock to 'Kyoto Experiment'

The Kyoto International Performing Arts Festival’s “Kyoto Experiment” will run from Saturday until Oct. 27. Artists from Argentina, Brazil, Britain, France, Germany and Japan will gather and present performances and related events, including exhibitions, lectures and symposiums at various sites throughout the city of ...

| Sep 13, 2013

'Rakugo' show, shamisen workshop in English

A “rakugo” comic storytelling performance and a shamisen workshop, both in English, will be held for free Sept. 23 in Osaka as part of the Kansai Music Conference. The workshop will start at noon and the rakugo at 12:30 p.m. No reservations are required. ...

| Sep 6, 2013

Street performers to act at Osaka festival

The Tempozan World Performance Festival will take place in Osaka between Sept. 14 and 16. Visitors to the festival, which runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day, can watch 36 groups of street performers. Admission is free. The venue is Tempozan Harbor ...

| Aug 23, 2013

Kyoto temple presents 1,000 lights memorial

Saturday is the second day of the Sento (1,000 lights) memorial service at Adashino Nenbutsuji Temple in Kyoto. Numerous candles will be lit between 5:30-8:30 p.m. in honor of thousands of deceased buried in the temple without any surviving relatives to pray for their ...

| Aug 17, 2013

Nara temple to hold annual Jizoe ceremony

Gangoji Temple in Nara will hold its annual Jizoe ceremony next Friday and Saturday. Such ceremonies are held for the repose of ancestors and to pray for global peace, the prosperity of families and good health for their children. During the event from 5 ...

| Aug 2, 2013

Famed Nara Great Buddha to be cleansed

The Great Buddha at Todaiji Temple in Nara will go through its annual cleansing and purification ceremony Wednesday, and visitors will be allowed to watch the procedure from 7:30 a.m. About 120 monks dressed in white will clean it, and the whole event will ...

| Jul 19, 2013

Foreigners invited to Toyonaka Bon festival

Foreigners are welcome to experience the traditional “bon odori” folk dance in Toyonaka, Osaka, from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. on July 30. Participation is free and participants need to bring socks. Only 15 people will be accepted and reservations must be made by ...

| Jul 12, 2013

Health and cucumbers ritual at Kyoto temple

A cucumber purification ceremony will be held July 21 and 22 at Gochisan Rengeji Temple in Kyoto, where participants will write their name, age and ailment on a cucumber, rub their body with it and bury it in the ground so the sickness will ...

| Jul 5, 2013

Free movie at ethnology museum in Suita

The National Museum of Ethnology in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, will have a free screening July 13 of a film worked on by people from Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, Serbia and Slovenia. “The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner” will be shown with ...