Here is a selection of photos taken by Kyodo News photographers in Japan and beyond this week.

 

People pray during a memorial event at a park in Kobe in Hyogo Prefecture on Jan. 17, 2021, the 26th anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake that struck the western Japan city and its vicinity, killing more than 6,000 people. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
 
Young people wearing face masks leave the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Tokyo's Meguro Ward on Jan. 17, 2021, after finishing the second day of two-day unified university entrance exams newly introduced in Japan in the current fiscal year. The exams to be used for screening by more than 800 public and private universities took place at over 600 venues across the country amid the coronavirus pandemic, covering over 500,000 applicants. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

 

A downtown area in Nagoya, central Japan, is seen deserted with restaurants and bars closed amid the novel coronavirus pandemic on Jan. 18, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

 

Conger eels poke their heads out from tubes that look like "ehomaki" sushi rolls at Sendai Umino-Mori Aquarium in northeastern Japan on Jan. 19, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

 

Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter on Jan. 19, 2021, shows the site of a multiple-vehicle collision on the Tohoku Expressway in Osaki in Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan. The accident occurred due to heavy snowfall that blanketed the region, leaving one person dead and 10 others hospitalized. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

 

Making of Kiccho lucky willow branch decorations for the Feb. 2 Setsubun day reaches its peak at Kumano Hayatama Taisha shrine in Shingu, Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, on Jan. 20, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

 

Police officers stand guard in front of the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 20, 2021, for U.S. President Joe Biden's inauguration ceremony. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

 

Canola flowers are in full bloom at a park in Moriyama in Shiga Prefecture, western Japan, on Jan. 20, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

 

Swans swim on a tributary of the Tokachi River in Obihiro, Hokkaido, northern Japan, on a misty morning on Jan. 20, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

 

People wearing masks walk in Tokyo's Shinjuku area on Jan. 21, 2021. The Japanese capital's tally of new coronavirus infections for January topped 30,000 the same day. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter on Jan. 21, 2021, shows the National Stadium, the main venue of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. The half-year countdown to the games that have been postponed to the summer of 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic is set to start Jan. 23. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
 
 
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Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - January 9~15

Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - January 2~8

Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - December 26~January 1

Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - December 19~25