I eavesdropped on a tour guide with salt-and-pepper hair explaining that more than 2,000 years ago, Amaterasu-Omikami, the Sun Goddess ... thank-you spirit of the Japanese, at Shiogama, a sacred ...

Those familiar with Japanese mythology will recognize the place as ... I reached a nondescript oval pond with water lilies. I was the only one there. In the quiet stillness, I circled the pond ...

Japanese people know all about the Kappa - a slippery water demon from ancient folklore. The pond and river-dwelling monsters are typically depicted as human-like but with the scaly green or blue ...