Spring in modern Japan is about new beginnings, but ancient festivals reveal that sakura was a sign so ominous it could scare people out of their...
It’s hardly surprising that the Gion festival became an annual event since epidemics have ravaged Kyoto in the oppressively humid summers up to modern times.
This mid-summer spectacle was born from fear, nourished by hope, and today is an expression of unbridled joy and universal yearning for good health.
Artist and ukiyo-e collector Toshihiko Isao shares insights into the folk beliefs and art forms that ordinary people turned to as they battled epidemics in past...
Last of Two Parts (Read Part One here.) Epidemics not Mentioned After the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was defeated badly in the 2009...