Here is a selection of Kyodo News photos taken this week in Japan and beyond.
Photo taken on Feb. 26, 2023, shows an entrance path to Miyajidake shrine in the Fukuoka Prefecture city of Fukutsu, southwestern Japan, just before sunset. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Fans wait outside Tokyo Dome for men's figure skating star Yuzuru Hanyu's solo ice show "GIFT" on Feb. 26, 2023. (Kyodo)
Runners set off at the Osaka Marathon on Feb. 26, 2023, in the western Japan city. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter on Feb. 27, 2023, shows cherry blossoms trees in bloom along a river in Kawazu, Shizuoka Prefecture. The cherry blossoms in the central Japan town are known for their early flowering. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Service members from participating nations attend the opening ceremony of Cobra Gold, one of the Asia-Pacific region's largest multinational military exercises, at Utapao Navy Camp Base in the province of Rayong, Thailand, on Feb. 28, 2023. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Ayu Yoneda (L), a 28-year-old surgeon at the Japan Red Cross Medical Center, virtually "shakes hands" with Makoto Suwa (on screen), a 46-year-old disaster prevention specialist at the World Bank -- now in the United States -- during a press conference in Tokyo on Feb. 28, 2023, after the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency selected them to become astronauts. It is the first time since 2009 that new Japanese astronaut candidates have been chosen, with the two landing their dream jobs after going through a rigorous screening process involving over 4,100 applicants. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Cruise ship Amadea of Germany-based operator Phoenix Reisen, sails into Shimizu port in the central Japan city of Shizuoka on March 1, 2023, with Mt. Fuji in the background, marking the first arrival of a foreign cruise ship in the country in about three years following a suspension of arrivals due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Citizens of the central Japan city of Shizuoka welcome the arrival of cruise ship Amadea of Germany-based operator Phoenix Reisen at Shimizu port on March 1, 2023. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Students at a high school in Gifu keep their masks on as they attend their graduation ceremony on March 1, 2023. (Kyodo)
The annual "omizutori" water-drawing fire ceremony, which dates back to 752, begins at the Nigatsudo hall of Todai-ji temple in Nara, western Japan, on March 1, 2023. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
The Metropolitan Police Department conducts drill in Tokyo on March 2, 2023, for protection of dignitaries with police officers across the country in charge of security attending. The MPD is set to increase the number of security police after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was fatally shot in July 2022 during a stump speech in the western city of Nara. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Photo taken in Hiroshima, western Japan, on March 2, 2023, shows Venus (R) and Jupiter appearing as if they are almost touching each other in what is known as a conjunction seen above the Atomic Bomb Dome. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
About 1,500 "hina" traditional Japanese dolls are displayed on a 7-meter-high, 31-step pyramid stand on March 2, 2023, at a shopping mall in Konosu in Saitama Prefecture near Tokyo. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Back number:
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - Feb. 18~24
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - Feb. 11~17
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - Feb. 4~10
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - Jan. 28~Feb. 3
