Large fire spreads in central Japan shopping district near sacred Shinto shrine
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- A large fire broke out on Aug 31 in a shopping district near the sacred Ise Jingu shrine in central Japan.
- The fire spread to multiple buildings, with black smoke and sounds of gas cylinder explosions reported.
- No injuries have been reported, and firefighters are actively working to extinguish the blaze.
AI generated
TOKYO – A large fire broke out on the afternoon of Aug 31 and spread to multiple buildings in a shopping district near Ise Jingu shrine in Ise, central Japan, local police said.
The affected district is in central Ise, Mie Prefecture, near the outer shrine of Ise Jingu. The complex is one of Japan’s most sacred Shinto sites, with its inner shrine dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu.
At around 3.15pm local time, a witness called emergency services to report a fire in a shopping street near the outer shrine.
No injuries had been reported so far, and local firefighters were working to extinguish the blaze.
According to the police, the blaze was brought under control about 4½ hours later.
Mie Prefecture and the city of Ise set up disaster response headquarters, while evacuation orders were issued for more than 500 residents in around 250 nearby households.
A photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter showed that the fire was nearing Ujiyamada Station, a major rail gateway to Ise Jingu shrine that is widely used by both domestic and overseas visitors.
A 78-year-old man who runs a restaurant about 100m from the shopping street said black smoke was rising from the area and that he occasionally heard what sounded like exploding gas cylinders.
“The street in front of the station has been almost completely burned down. It looks like it will take time to put out the fire, and I’m worried it could spread further,” he said. KYODO NEWS