Here is a selection of Kyodo News photos taken this week in Japan and beyond.
March 2
Sumo grand champion Terunofuji performs a ceremonial ring-entering ritual at Sumiyoshi Taisha shrine in Osaka, ahead of the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament starting in the western Japan city on March 10. (Kyodo)
A test flight for a flying vehicle is conducted with two people on board in Nobeoka, Miyazaki Prefecture. The southwestern Japan city is considering putting the vehicle, eyed as an ambulance, to practical use by fiscal 2027, to cater to local medical needs amid a shortage of doctors. (Kyodo)
March 3
A wooden boat loaded with about 500 traditional Japanese "hina" dolls is cast out to sea during an annual Girls' Day festival at a Shinto shrine in Wakayama. (Kyodo)
March 4
A fishing boat with a crew of 25 mostly Indonesian nationals ran aground off Tokyo's Izu Islands, with the Japan Coast Guard confirming the sole missing member, a Japanese citizen, dead. (Kyodo)
March 5
March 6
Yokozuna Terunofuji attends a training session in Osaka ahead of the upcoming Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in the western Japan city. (Kyodo)
March 7
Futaba Post Office in the town of Futaba, Fukushima Prefecture, which suspended its operations in the aftermath of the March 2011 nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan's northeast, reopens at a new location after 13 years. (Kyodo)
March 8
A ceremony to award a Self-Defense Forces flag to a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force submarine is held at a shipyard of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture in western Japan. The submarine, "Jingei," will be deployed to the MSDF Yokosuka Base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, near Tokyo. (Kyodo)
Megumi Ueda speaks at a press conference in Tokyo after
filing a lawsuit at the Tokyo District Court. Twelve people filed lawsuits against the government, 10 with the Tokyo District Court and two with the Sapporo District Court, claiming that the legal provisions that force married couples to use the same surname are unconstitutional. (Kyodo)
Back number:
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - Feb. 24 - March 1
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - Feb. 17-23
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - Feb. 10-16
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - Feb. 3-9