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

 

A pair of iconic golden statues of "shachihoko" -- a mythical half-tiger, half-fish creature -- are displayed on the premises of Nagoya Castle in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, on March 20, 2021. Usually adorning the roof of the castle, the statues were taken down for public display for the first time since the 2005 Aichi Expo to bolster the local economy amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
Protesters against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stage a rally near the prime minister's official residence in Jerusalem on March 20, 2021, three days before the country's general election. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
Shizue Takahashi, who lost her husband Kazumasa in the AUM Shinrikyo cult's 1995 sarin nerve gas attack, offers flowers at an altar at Kasumigaseki Station on March 20, 2021, the 26th anniversary of the terror attack on the Tokyo subway system that killed 14 people and injured over 6,000 others. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

 
Photo taken March 20, 2021, shows collapsed parts of a cliff in Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture, after a powerful earthquake struck northeastern Japan. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

 
Few people are seen on Ameyoko shopping street in Tokyo's Ueno area on March 21, 2021, ahead of the scheduled lifting of the coronavirus state of emergency at the end of the day. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels is pictured after moving to third base in the third inning of a spring training game against the San Diego Padres on March 21, 2021, in Peoria, Arizona. The two-way player pitched and hit in the same game for the first time in his Angels career. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

A "Somei Yoshino" cherry tree in Fukuoka, southwestern Japan, used as a sample for official declarations of start of cherry blossom season in region reaches full bloom on March 22, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

 
A polar bear cub and her mother at Tennoji Zoo in Osaka are shown to the media on March 22, 2021, a day before the cub goes on public display about four months after she was born. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

 
People flash three-finger salutes in front of the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima on March 23, 2021, during a protest against the military regime in Myanmar. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
 
The Tokyo Olympic torch relay starts at the J-Village soccer training center on March 25, 2021, in the northeastern Japan prefecture of Fukushima, affected by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, and the subsequent nuclear crisis. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

People protest against the holding of the Tokyo Olympics in the capital on March 25, 2021, when the torch relay began in the northeastern Japan prefecture of Fukushima affected by the March 2011 earthquake-tsunami and subsequent nuclear crisis. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
 
Daichi Kamada (2nd from L) of Japan scores a goal in the first half of an international friendly against South Korea at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama on March 25, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
People walk by Tokyo Dome on March 26, 2021, ahead of the season-opening pro baseball game later in the day between the Yomiuri Giants and the DeNA BayStars. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
 
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Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - March 13~19

Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - March 6~12

Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - February 27~March 5

Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - February 20~26