Japanese sport climber Tomoa Narasaki books a second shot at Olympic gold with a third-place finish in the men's combined boulder and lead event at the world championships in Bern. (Kyodo)
The four-day Awa Odori traditional dance festival begins in Tokushima, with the opening day highlight being a grand parade involving more than 1,000 dancers. (Kyodo)
The Shan-Shan summer festival in Tottori, featuring dancers holding colorful umbrellas with bells attached, is held on a public road for the first time in four years as COVID-related restrictions were fully lifted earlier this year. (Kyodo)
Japan braces for the arrival of Typhoon Lan, prompting railway and airline companies to announce the reduction or cancellation of flights and shinkansen train services for the next day when the typhoon is on course to make landfall on the Pacific coast of western Japan. (Kyodo)
Giant panda Saihin celebrates her fifth birthday at Adventure World zoo in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, receiving a pile of artificial snow and 100 round-shaped pieces of ice forming the number "5" as a gift. (Kyodo)
Shooting stars light up the night sky in Ojiya in Niigata Prefecture as the annual summer Perseid meteor shower peaks. (Kyodo)
Some 1,000 women wearing golden paper lanterns on their heads form rings of circles and dance during the Yamaga Lantern Festival in Yamaga, Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on Aug. 16, 2023. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
In Tottori Prefecture, hundreds of people were left isolated after mudslides blocked roads and bridges collapsed as Typhoon Lan brought torrential rains to mostly western parts of Japan. (Kyodo)
Several dozen people believed to be North Korean athletes arrive in China's border city of Dandong. Their arrival in the city to take part in an international taekwondo event in Kazakhstan marks the first time Pyongyang has sent a domestic sports team overseas since its 2020 COVID-19 border closure. (Kyodo)
Relief efforts are underway after the deadliest U.S. wildfires in over a century devastated Lahaina on the island of Maui in Hawaii. (Kyodo)
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida leaves for the United States to attend a three-way summit with his U.S. and South Korean counterparts. He has pledged to bolster relations among the three countries to address security threats from North Korea.
Heavyweight France has its hands full early before pulling away to an 88-70 win over Japan in a warm-up game ahead of the FIBA Basketball World Cup. (Kyodo)
Kaminoseki, a Yamaguchi Prefecture town in the Seto Inland Sea, greenlights a geological survey in an effort to step toward building a facility for temporarily keeping spent nuclear fuel. Townspeople opposed to the plan encircle the town's mayor, Tetsuo Nishi, to prevent him from entering the municipal building. (Kyodo)
