Today in Japan

October 22nd is Anime Day in Japan. On this day in 1958, The Tale of the White Serpent opened in theaters. It was the first full-length color animated film made in Japan. The Association of Japanese Animations chose the date in 2017 as part of a project celebrating about 100 years of Japanese animation.

Jidai Matsuri, or the Festival of the Ages, takes place in Kyoto every October 22nd. About 2,000 people in costumes from different eras walk from the old Imperial Palace to Heian Jingu Shrine, in a line about two kilometers long. The parade starts with the Meiji era and goes back in time to the 700s. The festival began in 1895, when Kyoto celebrated 1,100 years since it became the capital.

On the same night, the mountain village of Kurama in northern Kyoto holds its Fire Festival. Local men carry huge pine torches through the narrow streets, shouting "Sairei, sairyo!" It's said to go back to 940, when the local shrine was moved here and villagers lit fires to welcome it. It's often counted as one of Kyoto's three most unusual festivals.