Two-time defending world figure skating champion Shoma Uno clinches his sixth men's national title and second in a row with a confident free skate performance. (Kyodo)
Students from the National Institute of Technology, Oyama College, in Tochigi Prefecture win the third Creative Robot Contest for Decommissioning, held in a seaside town in Fukushima Prefecture to explore the possibilities of robot use in the decommissioning of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in the northeastern Japan prefecture. (Kyodo)
The ekiden road relay team from Kamimura Gakuen High School in Kagoshima Prefecture overtakes Miyagi Prefecture's Sendai Ikuei just before the finish line to win the women's high school national championship held in Kyoto. (Kyodo)
Jockey Yutaka Take extends his record for career G1 victories to 81 aboard second favorite Do Deuce at the 68th running of the Arima Kinen. (Kyodo)
Two-time defending women's world champion Kaori Sakamoto earns a spot at March's worlds by winning her third straight Japan national title. (Kyodo)
Shoma Uno performs during the exhibition gala after the Japan national figure skating championships in Nagano, central Japan. (Kyodo)
Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter shows a Daihatsu Motor Co. factory in Ryuo in Shiga Prefecture, western Japan. The small-car unit of Toyota Motor Corp. said the same day it will suspend production at all domestic factories until at least the end of January due to a safety testing scandal. (Kyodo)
People gather for an event to mark the 130th anniversary the following day of the birth of Mao Zedong, the founder of the People's Republic of China, in his birthplace of Shaoshan in Hunan Province. (Kyodo)
Sumo wrestlers resume practice at the late stablemaster Shikoroyama's stable in Tokyo on Dec. 26, 2023, ahead of the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament starting on Jan. 14. Shikoroyama, or former sekiwake Terao, died of heart failure aged 60 on Dec. 17. (Kyodo)
Nakamise shopping street in Tokyo's Asakusa area is crowded with people ahead of the New Year. (Kyodo)
Japanese boxer Naoya Inoue strikes a pose after defeating Marlon Tapales of the Philippines in their four-belt world super bantamweight title unification match at Ariake Arena in Tokyo on Dec. 26, 2023. (Kyodo)
A giant bell is rung by monks at Chion-in temple in Kyoto in a rehearsal for a bell-ringing ceremony on New Year's Eve. (Kyodo)
Giant panda Rauhin is given a "kadomatsu" traditional Japanese decoration for New Year and ice blocks in the shape of 2024 in celebration of the coming year at the Adventure World amusement park in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture. (Kyodo)
Shinto priests at Kumano Nachi Taisha shrine replace a large "shimenawa" sacred straw rope with a new one ahead of the New Year at a waterfall in Nachikatsuura, Wakayama Prefecture. (Kyodo)
A year-end "otakiage" ritual, in which monks throw charms and amulets onto a temple fire in appreciation for the granting of worshippers' wishes, is held at Naritasan Shinsho-ji in Narita in Chiba Prefecture. (Kyodo)
Japanese Antarctic observation ship, the icebreaker Shirase, is set to anchor at Japan's Syowa Station in the Antarctic on Dec. 25, 2023. (Pool photo) (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
People gather on Dec. 25, 2023, for an event to mark the 130th anniversary the following day of the birth of Mao Zedong, the founder of the People's Republic of China, in his birthplace of Shaoshan in Hunan Province. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter on Dec. 25, 2023, shows a Daihatsu Motor Co. factory in Ryuo in Shiga Prefecture, western Japan. The small-car unit of Toyota Motor Corp. said the same day it will suspend production at all domestic factories until at least the end of January due to a safety testing scandal. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Nakamise shopping street in Tokyo's Asakusa area is crowded with people on Dec. 26, 2023, ahead of the New Year. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Japanese boxer Naoya Inoue poses after defeating Marlon Tapales of the Philippines in their four-belt world super bantamweight title unification match at Ariake Arena in Tokyo on Dec. 26, 2023. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Here is a selection of Kyodo News photos taken this week in Japan and beyond.
