Japan and beyond: Week in Photos
May 4-10
Here is a selection of Kyodo News photos and videos
taken this week in Japan and beyond.
May 4
A rare Biwa trout, out of 250,000 trout fry hatched in the fall of 2022 at a fish farm in Maibara, Shiga Prefecture, is cobalt blue-colored. (Kyodo)
Horses ridden by local young men charge up a slope at Tado Taisha shrine in Kuwana, Mie Prefecture, during a traditional festival to pray for good harvest. The ritual dates back hundreds of years, but this year, the organizers removed a 2-meter-high earthen wall obstacle that the horses had been made to jump over and also made the slope less steep to lessen the burden on the horses following complaints of animal abuse. (Kyodo)
Infants take part in a "crying baby" sumo contest at Mikumano shrine in Hanamaki, Iwate Prefecture. (Kyodo)
May 5
Train services are temporarily disrupted in western Japan following a report of a suspicious item at Kyoto Station. A total of 80 trains were canceled and 97 were delayed on JR Tokaido Line and other rail services, affecting about 85,000 people amid the travel rush as the country's Golden Week holiday was about to end. (Kyodo)
Some 550 blue "koinobori" carp streamers collected from across the country fly in Higashimatsushima in Miyagi Prefecture on Children's Day in Japan -- in memory of children killed in the March 2011 quake and tsunami that devastated the region. (Kyodo)
May 6
Undisputed world super bantamweight boxing champion Naoya Inoue of Japan knocks out Mexico's Luis Nery in the sixth round of their title showdown at Tokyo Dome. (Kyodo)
Train stations and airports bustle with travelers while expressways are packed with cars as people return from trips on the last day of Japan's Golden Week holidays. (Kyodo)
May 7
The new Fantasy Springs theme area at Tokyo DisneySea, drawing on films such as "Frozen" as well as "Peter Pan" and "Tangled," is revealed to the media before its official opening in June. (Kyodo)
Almost a year since Japan downgraded COVID-19 to a lower-risk disease category and daily life has gradually returned to normal, health experts are stressing the need for a renewed understanding that lives are still being lost to the virus -- over 16,000 deaths between May and November last year. (Kyodo)
May 8
Marseille-born rapper Jul transfers the Paris Olympic flame to a cauldron after it arrives in the southern French city from Greece. (Kyodo)
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida eats some cantaloupe melon from Hokota, Ibaraki Prefecture near Tokyo, during a meeting with the city's mayor at his office in Tokyo. (Kyodo)
Japan's environment minister apologizes to Shigemitsu Matsuzaki, vice chairman of a Minamata mercury-poisoning disease victims' group, in Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture, after ministry officials interrupted remarks by some victims of the disease by muting their microphones at a meeting in the prefecture last week. (Kyodo)
May 9
Emperor Naruhito talks to grand cordon recipients during an awarding ceremony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. (Kyodo)
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol says at a press conference to mark the second anniversary of his presidency that his country and Japan are ready to move forward based on mutual trust built over the years, while noting historical issues may act as a hindrance. (Kyodo)
Koki Machida of Royale Union Saint-Gilloise is congratulated by his teammates after scoring against Antwerp in the first half of the Belgian Cup final in Brussels. (Kyodo)
May 10
Cyclists compete during stage 1 of the Tour de Kumano three-day race in Kozagawa in the western Japan prefecture of Wakayama. (Kyodo)
Yokohama F Marinos manager Harry Kewell speaks at a press conference in Yokohama, a day ahead of the team's meeting with Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates in the first leg of the Asian Champions League final. (Kyodo)
A memorial service is held for giant panda Tan Tan at Oji Zoo in the western Japan city of Kobe. Japan's oldest giant panda, she died at 28 at the end of March 2024. (Kyodo)
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