Source: Fox News

Wire Service: AP

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,223539,00.html

EDISON, N.J. The train station billboards tell it all.

Local travel agents promise the best airfares from New York to Mumbai. Shagun Fashions is selling dazzling Indian saris. And DirecTV offers "the six top Indian channels direct to you."

Roughly every third person who lives Edison, a New York suburb, is of Asian Indian ancestry. Many are...

Source: The Daily Yomiuri

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20060928TDY20002.htm

On September 28, 2006 The Daily Yomiuri reported, "Shintoism has the power to enrich a multicultural society through its nature-based principles, an American Shinto priest said at a symposium in Nara earlier this month. Koichi Barrish, chief priest at the Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America near Seattle and the first foreign Shinto priest, made the comment in a speech at the...

Source: Sikh Sanghat

http://www.sikhsangat.org/publish/article_1373.shtml

On September 21, 2006 the Sikh Sanghat reported, "Religious leaders representing up to 30 faith traditions from all over the world attended an interfaith prayer service on Sept 12th to mark the opening of the 61st United Nations General Assembly. The introductions were led by Hiro Sakurai, Committee of Religious NGOs and Rev. William Tully, St. Bartholomew’s Church. This was followed by...

Source: Star Bulletin

http://starbulletin.com/2006/09/16/features/story02.html

On September 16, 2006 the Star Bulletin reported, "A small Shinto shrine in downtown Honolulu was the destination of about 10,000 people during the New Year holiday weekend. People of many ethnic and religious backgrounds flocked to the Izumo Taishakyo Mission at 215 N. Kukui St. seeking good-luck amulets and blessings on their endeavors and relationships. Many recognize the annual New...

Source: International Herald Tribune

Wire Service: AP

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/04/europe/EU_REL_Italy_Religious_Summit.php

On September 4, 2006 the Associated Press reported, "Global terrorism and violence carried out in the name of God show no sign of letting up, Pope Benedict XVI said Monday as he appealed to hundreds of religious leaders [in Assisi] to use their faiths to bring about peace...

Source: People's Daily Online/Xinhua

http://english.people.com.cn/200605/26/eng20060526_268689.html

On May 26, 2006 Xinhua reported, "The Tokyo District Court turned down on Thursday demands by former South Korean soldiers and their family members who asked Japan to stop enshrining Korean war dead at the notorious Yasukuni Shrine, local press reported. The court said the decision made by the Yasukuni to enshrine the Korean war dead was unrelated with the...

Source: International Herald Tribune

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/03/31/news/asiaweek.php

On March 31, 2006 the International Herald Tribune reported, "Two substantial Asian art fairs have taken over the Seventh Regiment Armory on Park Avenue and the Gramercy Park Armory. About two dozen special gallery exhibitions are spread around the Upper East Side. Timed to coincide with the fairs and mounted by local and visiting dealers, some are sublime. But this year...

Source: The Japan Times

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/member/member.html?appURL=nn20060209f2.html

On February 9, 2006 The Japan Times reported, "Dutch former actor Paul de Leeuw is recognized as the only Shinto master in Europe. Dutch Shinto priest Paul de Leeuw offers a prayer at the Dutch Yamakage Shinto Shrine in Amsterdam. An actor before becoming a Shinto priest, he now gives classes and lectures about meditation... His house, which includes...

Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/editorial/13573410.htm

On January 8, 2006 The Philadelphia Inquirer ran an editorial stating, "The 'intelligent design' trial, which concluded with a resounding anti-ID ruling, has exposed a surprising, yawning gap in American education. There's a workable solution - but, alas, you won't be seeing it anytime soon. Problem is, there's no place to put ID in our present public school...

Source: The Japan Times

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20051216b1.htm

On December 16, 2005 The Japan Times reported, "More than 91 million people are expected to visit shrines and temples during the first three days of 2006 if the weather is good during the holiday season, the National Police Agency said Thursday. The NPA estimates 91.64 million people nationwide will visit Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples during the first three...

Source: Scripps Howard News Service

Source: Daily Yomiuri

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/culture/20051201TDY20001.htm

On December 1, 2005 the Daily Yomiuri reported, "For years, Caitlin Stronell did not have a high opinion of Shinto, Japan's indigenous religion. In fact, she regarded it as an evil that fostered xenophobic imperialism and eventually dragged Japan into World War II. But a chance meeting and a visit to a shrine not only caused her to change her impression of the religion...

Source: Yahoo! News

Wire Service: AFP

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050617/wl_asia_afp/japanskoreachinashrine_050617075702

On June 17, 2005 Agence France-Presse reported, "Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has ruled out suggestions that another memorial to war dead could replace Yasukuni shrine, whose association with militarism outrages neighboring countries.

'I think it is OK to...

Source: Voice of America News

http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-04-08-voa20.cfm

On April 8, 2005 Voice of America News reported, "While the eyes of the world were on Vatican City for the funeral of Pope John Paul II, another world-renowned religious leader quietly began a visit to Japan. Arriving at Tokyo's Narita airport Friday, the Dalai Lama began his visit to Japan by urging the world to continue the late pope's legacy of peace. In Japan's capital, the Tibetan...

Source: Salt Lake Tribune

Wire Service: AP

http://www.sltrib.com/nationworld/ci_2557177

On February 6, 2005 the Associated Press reported, "In a few months, the stewards of the Grand Shrine of Ise, or Jingu, will begin constructing replicas of these buildings, then transfer the deities to the new sites and commit what seems unthinkable: tear down the old ones. Destroying some of the country's most cherished religious monuments sounds like...