Priests dressed in traditional attire beat wooden boards with willow branches in front of a waterfall in Nachikatsuura in Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, on Jan. 8, 2025, during a ritual at the World Heritage-listed Kumano Nachi Taisha shrine to enhance the effectiveness of the talisman to ward off misfortune. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.