Submit

Japan’s monkey sensation Punch turns 1, drawing a flood of well-wishing messages, in photos

ICHIKAWA, Japan (AP) — Punch, the orphaned monkey at a Japanese zoo that stole many people’s hearts by clinging to an orangutan plushie, is marking his first birthday with a flood of well-wishing messages from his fans around the world — even though he now has friends and is no longer holding on to

 

Photos of a bean-throwing ritual to celebrate seasonal change and ward off evil at a Japanese shrine

HAKONE, Japan (AP) — Scores gathered at a shrine in Japan’s Hakone to try and catch “lucky beans,” hoping to ward off evil spirits as they celebrate the last day of winter in the Japanese lunar calendar.

 

Photos show sacred deer wandering through Japan’s ancient capital during Japan-South Korea summit

NARA, Japan (AP) — In Japan’s ancient capital, Nara, deer moved through grass fields and shaded paths, lowering their heads toward visitors holding special crackers made just for them.

 

Photos of 20-year-olds at a Coming of Age Day ceremony in Japan

YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) — Young women in brightly colored long-sleeved kimonos and young men in formal and traditional wear celebrated Japan’s Coming of Age Day on Monday for people who have turned 20.

 

Photos show ladder stunts and other activities at a Tokyo fire brigade review

TOKYO (AP) — Members of a traditional firefighting preservation group performed ladder stunts and other activities during an annual fire brigade review Tuesday in Tokyo.

 

Photos of Buddhist monks in Laos praying in region littered with unexploded bombs

LUANG PRABANG, Laos (AP) — The day begins in darkness, lit only by street lamps. As dawn breaks, a pale blue light reveals a quiet line of monks in orange robes moving through the streets of the Lao city of Luang Prabang.

 

Photos of searchers seeking victims of a Hiroshima bombing 80 years later on a nearby island

NINOSHIMA, Japan (AP) — When the first atomic bomb detonated 80 years ago on Aug. 6, thousands of the dead and dying were brought to the small, rural island of Ninoshima, just south of Hiroshima, by military boats with crews that had trained for suicide attack missions.

 

Photos show a town praying for marine safety at a seaside festival near Tokyo

YOKOSUKA, Japan (AP) — Hundreds of residents gathered at Kurihama beach outside Tokyo over the weekend to pray for marine safety in a summer festival that fuses sacred ritual and seaside spectacle.

 

AP PHOTOS: On remote Nagasaki islands, a rare version of Christianity heads toward extinction

IKITSUKI, Japan (AP) — On the rural islands of Nagasaki, a handful of believers practice a version of Christianity that has direct links to a time of samurai, shoguns, and martyred missionaries and believers.

 

AP PHOTOS: A survivor of the Nagasaki bombing struggles to preserve remains

NAGASAKI, Japan (AP) — Decorated with colorful paper cranes and blooming flowers, it doesn’t look the scene of a tragedy.

 

USS Ronald Reagan leaves its Japan home port after nearly 9 years

A U.S. Navy strike group’s flagship aircraft carrier has left its Japanese home port, wrapping up nearly nine years of deployment in the Indo-Pacific, where it served a key role in the U.S. effort to bolster defense ties with Japan and other partners in the region.

 

Australian freed in N. Korea keeps mum about detention

An Australian student has thanked Swedish and his country’s diplomats for securing his release in North Korea but is keeping mum about what led to his weeklong detention.

 

Abe renews pledge to change Japan’s charter to boost troops

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has renewed his pledge to push for a revision to the country’s war-renouncing constitution, in which he wants the military explicitly mentioned.

 

AP PHOTOS: Legacies of a disaster dot Japan’s tsunami coast

AP photographer Eugene Hoshiko captures in images some of the legacies of the 2011 tsunami that still stand, five years later. Most are painful, but one inspires hope.

 

Calls to abolish nukes on Nagasaki bombing 70th anniversary

NAGASAKI, Japan (AP) — The city of Nagasaki marked the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing Sunday with calls to abolish nuclear weapons and halt the Japanese government’s push to loosen restrictions on what its military can do.