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

A Long March-2F rocket, carrying the Shenzhou-13 spacecraft and three astronauts on China's second crewed mission to build its own space station, is launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China's northwestern Gansu Province in the early hours of Oct. 16, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
Photo taken at Tokyo's Yasukuni shrine on Oct. 17, 2021, shows a ritual offering sent by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida earlier in the day. Kishida offered the "masakaki" tree offering during a biannual festival held in the spring and autumn at the Shinto shrine, seen by China and South Korea as a symbol of Japan's past militarism as it honors convicted war criminals along with more than 2.4 million war dead. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
Japanese Princess Mako enters the Imperial Palace to attend a rice-harvest rite on Oct. 17, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
A total of 88 Afghans arrive at Narita airport near Tokyo on Oct. 19, 2021, the largest number of people the Japanese government has accepted from Afghanistan since the Taliban took control of the country in August. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
Daisuke Matsuzaka of the Seibu Lions pitches against the Nippon Ham Fighters in a Pacific League regular-season game at MetLife Dome in Tokorozawa, Japan, on Oct. 19, 2021. The former Boston Red Sox pitcher walked the only batter he faced in the final game of his career. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
Members of the organizing staff wearing face shields and protective suits disinfect apparatus on the third day of the artistic gymnastics world championships on Oct. 20, 2021, at Kitakyushu General Gymnasium in Kitakyushu in Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter shows volcanic fumes billowing from Mt. Aso as it erupts explosively in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on Oct. 20, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
People listen to a politician giving a stump speech in the Okayama Prefecture city of Kurashiki, western Japan, on Oct. 21, 2021, ahead of a general election on Oct. 31. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter on Oct. 21, 2021, shows colorful nets spread for seaweed farming in the Ariake Sea off Saga in southwestern Japan. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
Photo taken on Oct. 21, 2021, shows a street lined with bars and restaurants in Tokyo's Shimbashi area. The Tokyo metropolitan government will lift coronavirus restrictions on eateries on Oct. 25 in response to the recent downtrend of infections. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
People are left stranded on a roller coaster at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka on Oct. 22, 2021, after a power outage caused the ride to stop, but no injuries have been reported, the park's operator said. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
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Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - October 9~15

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

Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - Sept. 25~Oct. 1

Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - September 18~24