Japanese "geiko" traditional professional entertainers and their apprentice, called "maiko," wearing formal attire, await the start of a ceremony to mark the first business day of the year on Jan. 7, 2023, in Kyoto. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
A high school student makes a bamboo lantern at a park in Kobe on Jan. 7, 2023, for a Jan. 17 memorial event marking the 28th anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake that struck the western Japan city and its vicinity killing more than 6,000 people. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
A man performs a bungee jumping from a bridge about 100 meters above ground in the Ibaraki Prefecture city of Hitachiota, eastern Japan, on Jan. 7, 2023, while shouting his hopes for this year. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Firefighters perform traditional ladder acrobatics on Jan. 8, 2023, during the annual New Year event organized by the Kanazawa city fire department in Kanazawa in Ishikawa Prefecture, central Japan. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States celebrates after winning the giant slalom at an Alpine skiing World Cup event in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, on Jan. 8, 2023. With her 82nd win, she equaled compatriot Lindsey Vonn's women's World Cup victories record. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Photo taken on Jan. 9, 2023, on Amami-Oshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, shows Ceylon blue glassy tigers clustered on twigs to make it through the winter. The butterfly is found in Southeast Asia, including Taiwan and southwestern islands in Japan, and is known to cluster in groups when the temperature falls below 15 C. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Defending champion Sota Fujii (R) and challenger Yoshiharu Habu reflect on Game 1 of a historic best-of-seven series for shogi's Osho title after Fujii beat Habu at a teahouse at Kakegawa Castle in the Shizuoka Prefecture city of Kakegawa, central Japan, on Jan. 9, 2023. If Habu, 52, captures the Osho title from 20-year-old Fujii, holder of four other major titles, it would be his 100th title tournament victory, an unprecedented achievement. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
LED lights aligned on the Rokko mountain range to form "Kobe" and "1.17," the date of the deadly Great Hanshin Earthquake that struck the port city in Hyogo Prefecture and neighboring areas in 1995, are pictured from Kobe on Jan. 10, 2023. (Kyodo)
A Sukhoi-30 fighter plane of the Indian Air Force arrives at the Japan Air Self-Defense Force's Hyakuri Air Base in Omitama, Ibaraki Prefecture, eastern Japan, on Jan. 10, 2023, ahead of Japan and India's first joint fighter jet exercise. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
People visit Azumayama Park in Ninomiya, Kanagawa Prefecture, eastern Japan, on Jan. 11, 2023, with rapeseed blossoms blooming earlier in the year than usual. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (3rd from L) is accompanied by his British counterpart Rishi Sunak (4th from L) as he heads to a welcome event ahead of talks in London on Jan. 11, 2023. (Pool photo)(Kyodo) ==Kyodo
LED lights aligned on the Rokko mountain range to form "Kobe" and "1.17," the date of the deadly Great Hanshin Earthquake that struck the port city in Hyogo Prefecture and neighboring areas in 1995, are pictured from Kobe on Jan. 10, 2023. (Kyodo)
