Nada Fight Festival

Shrine Parishioners bump their portable shrines during Nada No Kenka Matsuri, or Nada Fight Festival of Matsubara Hachiman Shrines at Otabi Mountain on October 16, 2011 in Himeji, Hyogo, Japan. The fight, the highlight of the shrine's Autumn Harvest Festival as part of the thanking to god and nature. Over 100,000 people visit the Nada No Kenka festival in every year. (Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe)

Rice Harvest Process in Hill Side, Japan.

A farmer collects sack of harvested rice in a paddy field during rice harvesting season on September 18, 2011 in Sayo city, Hyogo, Japan. September is the month for Inekari 'the rice harvest' in Japan. According to official Agricultural information, Hyogo Prefecture cultivates 33890 hectares of eating rice and 4130 hectares of sake production rice. (Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe)

Full-Scale Restoration of Himeji Castle Continues

A woman stands at an observation point to view repairs being carried out to the main roof at Himeji Castle during its extensive restoration work on August 31, 2011 in Hemeji, Japan. Built between the 14th and 17th centuries and registered as a World Heritage site in 1993. Himeji Castle is undergoing a 5 year period of full-scale restoration work which began in December 2009 and is due to be completed in 2014. Using traditional techniques, structural repairs are being carried out to plaster walls, the eaves and canopies of the upper levels that have been damaged or become soiled over a period of 45 years since the last major restoration work was completed in 1964. (Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe/Street Photo Gallery)