Sixty traditional folk events halted in rural Japan due to depopulation, aging
Sixty traditional festivals and dances in 20 prefectures designated by local governments as intangible folk culture assets have been ended or suspended due to population declines and the aging of rural communities, a survey has found. The importance of folk culture assets has been underscored ...
Falling pregnant by touching boys? Africans confront sex taboos with education
When Sokhna Aminatou Sarr started menstruating, as a young girl in Senegal who had not yet reached her teenage years, her mother warned that she would become pregnant if she went near any boys. While taboos surrounding sexual and reproductive health may be common among ...
Shinagawa, a gateway to old and new Tokyo
In the Edo Period, Shinagawa was the first "shukuba machi," or "post station town" to be built on the Tokaido, the coastal road linking the bustling Nihonbashi district in Edo, then the de facto capital under the Tokugawa shogunate, to Kyoto, which remained the ...
Creative spirits inhabit daruma range
Funky designs update daruma dolls as yokai, and help traditional artisans along the way.
