Fire at Buddhist temple kills 5 in JapanA photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter shows a temple burnt down in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, on Friday. (Photo: Kyodo)YAMAGUCHI — A fire broke out early Friday at a Buddhist temple in the western Japan prefecture of Yamaguchi, killing five people, local authorities said. Police said five people are believed to have been living at the two-story wooden temple in Shimonoseki, which has a residential area connected to it. The fire was extinguished at around 5.40am, about three hours after a neighbour made an emergency call, according to the police and the local fire department.

Source: Bangkok Post February 20, 2026 13:06 UTC