Here is a selection of Kyodo News photos taken this week in Japan and beyond.
A wisteria trellis is illuminated with about 300,000 LED lamps at Ashikaga Flower Park in Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture, eastern Japan, on Dec. 10, 2022. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
A Portugal supporter cheers ahead of a World Cup quarterfinal football match against Morocco at Al Thumama Stadium in Doha, Qatar, on Dec. 10, 2022. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Japan's Mai Mihara poses after winning gold at the Grand Prix Final figure skating competition at the Palavela ice arena in Turin, Italy, on Dec. 10, 2022. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
People watch the Japan Air Self-Defense Force's Blue Impulse aerobatic team fly over Miyako Island in Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan, on Dec. 11, 2022, marking the 50th anniversary of an ASDF base on the island. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Photo taken in Tokyo on Dec. 11, 2022, shows a mockup of a lunar lander developed by Tokyo-based startup ispace Inc. The lunar lander was successfully detached from a SpaceX rocket after its launch from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station the same day. The technology startup would be the first private company in the world to reach the Moon if the lander arrives as scheduled around late April next year. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Photo taken on Dec. 12, 2022, shows a deserted commercial area in downtown Beijing, as China faces new challenges after relaxing "zero-COVID" policy. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Seihan Mori, chief Buddhist priest of Kiyomizu temple in Kyoto, writes the kanji character "sen," meaning war or battle, with a calligraphy brush on Dec. 12, 2022. The character was selected as the best single kanji to symbolize the national mood for the year, referencing the Russia-Ukraine war. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
People sweep away dust during year-end cleaning at Naritasan Shinsho-ji temple in Narita, near Tokyo, on Dec. 13, 2022. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Japanese boxer Naoya Inoue reacts after defeating Britain's Paul Butler at Tokyo's Ariake Arena on Dec. 13, 2022. By adding Butler's WBO title to his own WBA, WBC and IBF belts, Inoue became the world's undisputed bantamweight champion. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Argentina's Lionel Messi (R) scores a first-half penalty, sending the ball past Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic into the upper right corner, during a World Cup semifinal football match at Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, on Dec. 13, 2022. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
U.S. President Joe Biden (C) signs landmark federal protections into law for same-sex marriage on Dec. 13, 2022, at the White House in Washington. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
A diver in a Santa Claus suit swims in a fish tank at Sunshine Aquarium in Tokyo on Dec. 14, 2022. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
An anti-base protester holds a sign that says "No military base for the future of our children" during a rally against the planned relocation of a U.S. base in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, on Dec. 14, 2022, exactly four years after offshore landfill work for the transfer began. The Japanese central government plans to transfer U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to the Henoko district in Nago, both in the southern island prefecture in Japan. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
A Geminid meteor shower is observed from Wakayama Prefecture's Kushimoto, the southernmost town on Japan's main island of Honshu, on Dec. 14, 2022. (Kyodo)
Sea fog blankets the surface of the sea off Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, on the morning of Dec. 15, 2022. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Photo shows a giant "ema" votive tablet featuring an illustration of rabbits at Kumano Nachi Taisha shrine in Nachikatsuura in Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, on Dec. 15, 2022, ahead of the start of the Year of Rabbit in 2023. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter shows the cruise ship Nippon Maru leaving Yokohama port near Tokyo on Dec. 15, 2022, marking the resumption of cruise ship operations from Japan following a hiatus of about two years and nine months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
People line up for fever outpatient services in a gym in Beijing on Dec. 15, 2022, after China recently eased its "zero-COVID" policy. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Japanese outfielder Masataka Yoshida shows his No. 7 jersey at an introductory press conference in Boston, Massachusetts, on Dec. 15, 2022, after joining the Boston Red Sox. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
People protest against a tax hike plan for higher defense spending in front of the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Dec. 16, 2022. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Back number:
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - Dec. 3~9
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - Nov. 26~Dec. 2
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - Nov. 19~25
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - Nov. 12~18
