TOKYO, April 30 -- A centuries-old festival that heralds spring drew hundreds of worshippers to a mountain in Tokyo on Wednesday, as robed Shinto priests led a procession to a sacred shrine at the summit.

The Hinode Sai, or Sunrise festival, is believed to have started when wandering ascetics climbed Mount Mitake in search of enlightenment. Each spring, it attracts devotees from across Japan to the still largely untouched mountaintop about 55 kilometres (30 miles) from Tokyo's metropolitan area.

The annual two-day ritual sees the shrine's deity - carefully wrapped in white silk and hidden from public view - brought from the summit down to a temporary "resting place" at the mountain's base before being returned in a celebratory ascent. ...