Young men swing huge torches during a fire festival on Mt. Kurama in Kyoto on Oct. 22, 2022, following a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Photo taken Oct. 25, 2022, in Hirosaki in the northeastern Japan prefecture of Aomori shows specially cultivated apples that bear depictions of French President Emmanuel Macron (top, R) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (top, L). The apples are "bagged" and kept in the dark, before being exposed to daylight with specially crafted stickers attached to their skin, producing the desired images when the stickers are removed. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter shows colorful seaweed nets in offshore waters in Saga, southwestern Japan, on Oct. 26, 2022. Seed planting in the Ariake Sea started across three Japanese prefectures the same day. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Visitors take photos of an anime figure on display at the Saudi Anime Expo 2022 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Oct. 27, 2022. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Photo taken in Nagoya, central Japan, on Oct. 27, 2022, shows a subway route map made using Lego blocks. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Twin giant pandas -- male Xiao Xiao (R) and his sister Lei Lei -- are pictured at Ueno Zoological Gardens in Tokyo on Oct. 28, 2022, the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the first giant pandas from China. The first pandas arrived in Japan from China the same year the two countries normalized diplomatic ties. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
