ISE, Japan (AP) — 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 ...

Shinto priests march into the main palace of Toyoukedaijingu, also known as Geku, or the outer sanctuary, of the Ise Jingu shrine complex as they begin Yamaguchisai, a kickoff ceremony of Shikinen ...

Each generation, Ise Jingu, Japan’s most revered Shinto shrine, is knocked down and rebuilt from scratch. It takes the country’s finest carpenters, woodcutters, builders and craftsmen around nine ...