GoKawiilSuwa Shrine's 583-Year Ice Ritual Marks 8th Straight Failed Crossing
Japan's Yasaka Shrine has logged the freezing patterns of Lake Suwa since 1443 as a religious divination, treating pressure ridges in the ice as the mythical crossing of a Shinto god. On February 4, 2026, the shrine again declared no crossing had occurred, extending an unbroken run of absences to eight winters — the longest such gap on record, matching one from 1507 to 1514 under an older definition.