Shinto priests line up before attending a purification ritual during the annual autumn festival at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, Japan, 17 October 2025. Earlier in the day, the outgoing Japanese prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, made a “masakaki” offering at the start of the three-day autumn festival. Some 2.5 million Japanese soldiers who died while in military service are enshrined at Yasukuni. (Photo by Franck Robichon/EPA)
