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

A joint Japan-U.S. memorial service is held on Iwoto Island in the Pacific on Dec. 11, 2021, to commemorate the 29,000 Japanese and U.S. soldiers who died in the 1945 Battle of Iwojima during World War II. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
People remove debris in Mayfield, Kentucky, on Dec. 12, 2021, after tornadoes caused catastrophic damage across several U.S. states, killing multiple people. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
 
Seihan Mori, chief Buddhist priest of Kiyomizu temple, writes the kanji character "kin" meaning gold on Dec. 13, 2021, at the temple in Kyoto after it was picked as the single most representative Chinese character corresponding to the social mood of the Olympic year in Japan. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
Some 130 salmon are hung in cold winds to preserve the fish using a traditional technique of the Ainu indigenous people in Shiraoi on Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido on Dec. 13, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
Photo shows a shooting star from the Geminid meteor shower observed over a lighthouse in Tosashimizu, Kochi Prefecture, western Japan, in the small hours of Dec. 14, 2021. This year's Geminid meteor shower peaked from the evening of Dec. 13 to the early hours of Dec. 14. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
Demonstrators in canoes protest against land reclamation work for the planned relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in the Henoko coastal area of Nago in Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan, on Dec. 14, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda speaks at a press conference in Tokyo on Dec. 14, 2021, about investment plans for electric vehicles. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
Photo taken Dec. 15, 2021, shows the 6.1-meter-tall mannequin character Nana-chan clad in a Christmas tree-like dress decorated with about 4,000 LED lights in Nagoya, central Japan. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
Photo shows a giant votive tablet featuring an illustration of a tiger at Kumano Nachi Taisha shrine in Nachikatsuura in Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, on Dec. 15, 2021, ahead of the start of 2022, the Year of Tiger in the Chinese zodiac. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

A commercial area in Seoul is deserted on Dec. 16, 2021, with the central government releasing tougher anti-virus steps amid resurging COVID-19 cases. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

North Korean soldiers visit Mansu Hill in Pyongyang on Dec. 17, 2021, the 10th anniversary of the death of the country's second leader Kim Jong Il. Statues of North Korea's founder Kim Il Sung (L) and his son Kim Jong Il can be seen in the background. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
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Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - December 4~10

Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - Nov. 27~Dec. 3

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

Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - November 13~19