JAPAN
Illustration of Takahiro Takiguchi

(Illustration by Yukiyo Oda/Stripes Japan)

Located on a hill in Akita City, near Misawa Air Base, the Institute of the Handmaids of the Holy Eucharist houses a wooden statue of “Our Lady of Akita,” also known as the “Weeping Virgin Mary of Akita”. The wooden statue, carved by a Japanese sculptor 56 years ago, was observed weeping 101 times between 1975 and 1981.

Shiro in English means white. “Kanashii desu” in English means “I’m sad’.

(Illustration by Stripes Japan)

Takahiro Takiguchi is a writer based in Yokosuka, Japan. Takiguchi covers travel, food and culture stories for Stars and Stripes Japan. Follow along as Takiguchi takes readers to less crowded destinations around the mainland, you might also catch him out and about recording Speakin’ Japanese lesson videos for Instagram.

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