Japan and beyond: Week in Photos

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

Citizens pray at a church in Kyiv on Dec. 31, 2022, amid continued Russian missile attacks. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

People wearing protective gear walk in a station in Shanghai on Dec. 31, 2022, amid the spread of coronavirus infections. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Photo taken from a Kyodo News airplane shows the site of a landslide that hit several buildings in Tsuruoka in Yamagata Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on Dec. 31, 2022. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

WBO super flyweight champion Kazuto Ioka (L) of Japan and WBA titleholder Joshua Franco of the United States fight in the 10th round of their title unification boxing match on Dec. 31, 2022, at Ota City General Gymnasium in Tokyo. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Sunrise and Mt. Fuji seen from a Japan Airlines' chartered flight on Jan. 1, 2023. (Kyodo)

A postal worker (L) in a uniform worn by Meiji-era mailmen delivers New Year's greeting cards together with a self-driving delivery robot in Tokyo on Jan. 1, 2023. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and other members of the imperial family wave to well-wishers from a balcony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Jan. 2, 2023. (Kyodo)

(From L) Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and Princess Aiko wave to well-wishers from a balcony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Jan. 2, 2023. (Kyodo)

Sparks fly as a swordsmith pounds heated steel with a hammer during the first sword-forging ceremony of the year at Seki Traditional Swordsmith Museum in Seki in Gifu Prefecture, central Japan, on Jan. 2, 2023. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

People line up at St. Peter's Square in Vatican City to pay their respects to late former Pope Benedict XVI, whose body lies in state in St. Peter's Basilica, on Jan. 2, 2023, two days after his death at age 95. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Komazawa University anchor Hibiki Aogaki crosses the finish line of the two-day Tokyo-Hakone collegiate ekiden road relay in Tokyo's Otemachi business district on Jan. 3, 2023. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

People get on a shinkansen bullet train from a crowded platform at JR Shin-Osaka Station in western Japan on Jan. 3, 2023, as people head home after the New Year holidays. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

People clad in traditional attire play "kemari," a football game played by nobles in Japan's Heian period, at Shimogamo shrine in Kyoto on Jan. 4, 2023. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Photo taken on Jan. 4, 2023, shows a humpback whale off Amami-Oshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Commuters wearing face masks amid COVID-19 concerns walk near JR Tokyo Station in the Japanese capital on Jan. 4, 2023, the first workday of the year for government offices and many companies in the country. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

A ceremony to mark the first trading day of the year is held at the Tokyo Stock Exchange in the Japanese capital on Jan. 4, 2023. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

A white dove decoration is seen on a Christmas tree in central Kyiv on Jan. 5, 2023, amid Russia's war in Ukraine. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

A new electric vehicle prototype of Sony Honda Mobility Inc. is shown at the CES technology trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Jan. 5, 2023. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Adherents of the Ikenobo school of Japanese ikebana flower arrangement participate in a ceremony to create their first floral art of the year in Kyoto on Jan. 5, 2023. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo