Society

Ghibli moss art discovered along mountain road in Japan

Jan 04 (Japan Today) - If youâ€™ve watched any of the films from Japanese animation studio Studio Ghibli, youâ€™ll know just how integral the world of nature is to many of their plots and characters.

From the forest creatures in "My Neighbour Totoro" and "Princess Mononoke" to the floating world of "Laputa: Castle in the Sky," Ghibli characters are often striving for peace between modern-day technology and Mother Nature, so if thereâ€™s one place youâ€™d expect to see these animated characters in person, itâ€™d be on a man-made structure in a woodland in Japan.

Twitter user @hana_inko was lucky enough to experience such an encounter, and it happened whilst driving along a road on a mountain pass in Saitama Prefecture. After driving past some familiar characters, @hana_inko did a double-take and stopped the car to snap some photos of what had appeared.

Along the roadside was a large image of the robot from "Laputa: Castle in the Sky," complete with a flower and butterfly by his foot. Not far away, some characters from "Spirited Away" could be seen, with Radish Spirit Oshira-sama joined by fellow bathhouse lovers, the masked Kasuga-Sama, and No Face beside them.

Do Bears Prefer Acorns or Berries?

Bear sightings across Japan have already climbed to nearly twice the level recorded during the same period last year, prompting entry bans in mountain areas behind Kyoto’s Ninna-ji Temple and the cancellation of hiking events in Kansai, while new research suggests that the key to reducing encounters may lie in understanding what bears eat in each region.

Copper Thieves Target Japanese Shrines

Copper roofing panels were stolen from several shrines in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, including a city-designated cultural property, in the latest case amid a nationwide surge in copper thefts targeting shrines and temples across Japan, where soaring metal prices have fueled crimes that leave historic religious buildings damaged, exposed to the elements, and facing repair costs of millions of yen.

1200-Year-Old Temple on Miyajima Reduced to Ashes

Flames broke out on the morning of May 20th on Miyajima Island in Hiroshima Prefecture, home to one of Japan's World Heritage sites, destroying Reikado Hall near the summit of Mount Misen.

From Bento Boxes to Garbage Bags, Rising Costs Hitting Daily Life Across Japan

Uncertainty surrounding the situation in the Middle East is beginning to affect daily life in Japan, as concerns over crude oil supplies spread to restaurants, cleaning services and even household garbage disposal systems across the Kansai region.

Tochigi Robbery-Murder Suspect’s Wife Posted Dance Videos on Social Media

A 25-year-old woman arrested as a suspected ringleader in a robbery-murder case in Tochigi Prefecture once posted cheerful dance videos on social media and was remembered by those who knew her as an energetic and outgoing young woman.

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