ISE, JAPAN - Lanterns and flaming torches emerge from the darkness as a robed priestess walks below centuries-old pine trees. Rows of solemn priests follow her up a long stone staircase, carrying a ...

ISE, Japan -- Lanterns and flaming torches emerge from the darkness as a robed priestess walks below centuries-old pine trees. Rows of solemn priests follow her up a long stone staircase, carrying a ...

Deep in the forests of the Japanese Alps, Shinto priests watch as woodsmen, clad in ceremonial white, fell two ancient cypress trees. Their axes strike from three precise directions, timed with ...

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 ...

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 that they strike from ...