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Yokohama dance squad riding high after US victory: The Yokohama Soei Senior High School dance squad solidified its status as one of
Cycling routes promoted for foreigners around Seto Island: A cycling event co-hosted by the Ehime prefectural government and a major Taiwanese bicycle
Cute anime girls come to the rescue of rural districts: It is no longer original for struggling Japanese municipalities to try to revive their
Popular sci-fi anime "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and samurai sword masters are teaming up for an exhibition running from July 14 to Sept. 17 at a museum in Okayama Prefecture.
The exhibition at the Bizen Osafune Japanese Sword Museum in Setouchi will showcase swords made by craftsmen based on weapons that have appeared in the animation.
"Inspired by the Evangelion world, (craftsmen) will produce Japanese swords with up-to-date designs by using traditional skills," Setouchi Mayor Akinari Takehisa said in announcing the exhibition.
More than 1,000 people in samurai costumes marched through Kofu city and into the Guinness World Records on April 7 as part of the Shingen-ko Festival.
The annual festival, honoring the 16th-century “daimyo” feudal lord Takeda Shingen, featured 1,061 “samurai” as part of its famed parade of warriors, which was recognized by Guinness as “the largest gathering of (contemporary people dressed as) samurai” in the world.
When customers pass through the "noren" shop curtains at the front entrance of the bar Shi-Shin, they are greeted by the bearded owner dressed as a feudal samurai.
Some may think they have entered the wrong place, or even gone back in time in Nakagyo Ward here in the nation's ancient capital.
In fact, the bar owner wears the traditional attire even when he goes to the bank.
A total of 1,061 people clad as feudal-era samurai warriors march along a road during the Shingen-ko (Lord Shingen) festival in Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, on April 7, 2012. The event to honor Takeda Shingen, a 16th century daimyo (feudal lord), was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest-ever gathering of samurai.
Arai Hakuseki (March 24, 1657 – June 29, 1725) was a Confucianist, scholar-bureaucrat, academic, administrator, writer and politician in Japan during the middle of the Edo Period, who advised the Shogun Tokugawa Ienobu. His personal name was Kinmi or Kimiyoshi (君美). Hakuseki (白石) was his pen name. His father was a Kururi han samurai Arai Masazumi.
Akao Kiyotsuna (born September 1st , 1573) was a Japanese samurai of the late Sengoku period, a senior retainer of the Azai clan of Ōmi Province. Together with Kaihō Tsunachika and Amemori Yahei, Kiyotsuna was known as one of the "Three Generals of the Azai" .
Adachi Kagemori (安達 景盛) (died June 11, 1248) was a Japanese warrior of the Adachi family and was a son of Morinaga. He served with Minamoto no Yoriie but became a monk when Minamoto no Sanetomo died.
Bessho Nagaharu (1558 – February 2, 1580) was a Japanese daimyo of the Sengoku period. He was the eldest son of Bessho Yasuharu.
In 1578 Oda Nobunaga called on his retainers to attack the Mori clan. 
Date Masamune (September 5, 1567 – June 27, 1636) was a regional strongman of Japan's Azuchi-Momoyama period through early Edo period. Heir to a long line of powerful daimyo in the T?hoku region, he went on to found the modern-day city of Sendai. An outstanding tactician, he was made all the more iconic for his missing eye, and Date was often called dokuganry? (???), or the "one-eyed dragon".
Abe Masakatsu (July 4, 1541 - May 19, 1600) was a Japanese samurai of the Abe clan of Mikawa who served Tokugawa Ieyasu.
The son of Abe Masanobu, Masakatsu served Ieyasu from a young age, first accompanying him to Sunpu as a hostage. In 1590, Ieyasu gave him Ichihara in Izu Province, and Hatogaya, in Musashi Province, which brought Masakatsu's income to 5,000 koku.
Azai Hisamasa (1526 - September 23, 1573) was a son of Azai Sukemasa and the second head of the Azai clan.
Hisamasa became the head of the clan in 1542 after his father died, but unlike his father, he was never a strong leader. Losing domains against Rokkaku clan, he instead became a Rokkaku retainer. 
Tokugawa Ieyasu ( January 31, 1543 – June 1, 1616) was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan which ruled from the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Ieyasu seized power in 1600, received appointment as shogun in 1603, abdicated from office in 1605, but remained in power until his death in 1616. His given name is sometimes spelled Iyeyasu, according to the historical pronunciation of we.
F?ma Kotar? was the name adopted by the leader of the F?ma clan of ninja during the Sengoku era of Japan. According to some records, his name was originally Kazama.
The clan was based in Kanagawa Prefecture, specializing in horseback guerrilla warfare and naval espionage. According to some sources, the family has roots in the 10th century when they served Taira no Masakado in his revolt against the Kyoto government.
Gam? Ujisato (1556 – March 17, 1595) was a Japanese daimyo of the Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. 
