This year's ceremony was on a scale held only once every 100 years. Horyuji temple, a registered UNESCO World Heritage site, was built in the seventh century at the behest of the prince (574-622).

IKARUGA, Nara Prefecture—Japan’s oldest Buddhist paintings moved a step forward to their first public display since they were badly damaged in a 1949 fire at Horyuji temple here. But it could ...