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

Kinkaku-ji temple, or the Golden Pavilion, in Kyoto, Japan, is seen dusted with snow for the first time this winter on Dec. 18, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
People pray on Dec. 19, 2021, in front of a multiple tenant building recently hit by a deadly fire in Osaka. A 61-year-old male patient of a mental clinic in the building is suspected of starting the fire on Dec. 17 that killed more than 20 people. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
A screen at a mission control center in a Moscow suburb shows Japanese entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa (C in white) reacting after his return to Earth on Dec. 20, 2021, from a 12-day trip to the International Space Station. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
Making of "kadomatsu" gate pines, a traditional Japanese decoration for New Year, is at its peak in Tonosho in Chiba Prefecture, eastern Japan, on Dec. 20, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
People wearing masks for protection against the coronavirus walk in front of JR Osaka Station on Dec. 22, 2021. Japan reported its first community transmission of the Omicron variant in Osaka Prefecture the same day, with three family members having no history of travel overseas being infected through unknown routes. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
A Hokkaido squirrel is spotted at a shrine in Asahikawa in Hokkaido, northern Japan, on Dec. 22, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
Figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu attends the opening ceremony of the national championships at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, eastern Japan, on Dec. 22, 2021, wearing a mask for protection against the coronavirus. The national championships will begin on Dec. 23. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
An umbrella-hanging event is held in Itoigawa in Niigata Prefecture, northwest of Tokyo, on Dec. 22, 2021, in commemoration of a large fire that broke out on the same day in 2016 and burned down 147 buildings in the city center. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako arrive at the temporary home of former Emperor Akihito and former Empress Michiko in Tokyo's Takanawa area on Dec. 23, 2021, to celebrate the former emperor's 88th birthday. (Pool photo) (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
This four-minute exposure photo taken from Minamikyushu in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, shows the light trail left by an H-2A rocket carrying a British communications satellite following its launch from Tanegashima Space Center in the prefecture in the early hours of Dec. 23, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
People wearing masks for protection against the coronavirus walk in a sightseeing spot in Kyoto on Dec. 23, 2021. Kyoto Prefecture reported its first community transmission of the Omicron variant the same day. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
 
This composite photo shows Kaori Sakamoto executing a triple lutz in the women's short program at the national figure skating championships at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, eastern Japan, on Dec. 23, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
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Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - December 11~17

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