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

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

Kana Muramoto (L) and Daisuke Takahashi perform their rhythm dance in the ice dance competition of the national figure skating championships at the Big Hat arena in Nagano, central Japan, on Dec. 26, 2020. (Pool photo) (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Yuzuru Hanyu performs his free skate at the national figure skating championships at the Big Hat arena in Nagano, central Japan, on Dec. 26, 2020. (Pool photo) (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Rika Kihira performs her free skate at the national figure skating championships at the Big Hat arena in Nagano, central Japan, on Dec. 27, 2020. (Pool photo) (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Kento Momota plays against Kanta Tsuneyama in the men's singles final of the national badminton championships at Machida Gymnasium in Tokyo on Dec. 27, 2020. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

A quarantine official looks at a saliva sample from a passenger who arrived from overseas for an antigen test at Narita airport near Tokyo on Dec. 27, 2020. Japan decides the same day to suspend new entry into the country of nonresident foreign nationals from around the world through late January. (Kyodo)

An annual "Otakiage" ritual, in which monks throw charms onto a temple fire in appreciation for the granting of worshippers' wishes, is held at Naritasan Shinshoji temple in Narita in Chiba Prefecture, eastern Japan, on Dec. 28, 2020, with participants wearing face masks amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

The renovated roof of World Heritage-listed Kinkaku-ji temple in the western Japan city of Kyoto is shown to the media on Dec. 29, 2020. The roof renovation was carried out for the first time since 2002. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

People wearing face masks visit the Ameyoko shopping street in Tokyo's Ueno area for year-end shopping on Dec. 29, 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic. The turnout on Dec. 28 was less than half of that in the previous year, according to the shopping street's association. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Giant panda Saihin is given ice blocks on Dec. 29, 2020 carved into the numbers of 2021 in celebration of the coming new year at the Adventure World amusement park in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

A large statue of an ox welcomes visitors at Tatsumizu shrine in Tsu, Mie Prefecture, central Japan, on Dec. 29, 2020, ahead of 2021, the Year of the Ox in the Chinese zodiac. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Fireworks are set off in Minamisoma, a northeastern Japan city hit hard by the 2011 earthquake-tsunami disaster, on Dec. 30, 2020, with the hope of an early end to the coronavirus pandemic. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

People wearing face masks walk in Tokyo's Ginza area on Dec. 31, 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic. The capital reported over 1,300 new infection cases, a record high, the same day. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo