Here is a selection of Kyodo News photos taken this week in Japan and beyond.
People rally on Tokyo streets on May 7, 2023, in opposition to a controversial bill that would amend an immigration law to enable authorities to deport individuals who repeatedly apply for refugee status, before Japan's House of Representatives passes the bill on May 9. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
People walk along the Nakamise shopping street in Tokyo's Asakusa area on May 8, 2023. Japan downgraded the same day the legal status of COVID-19 to the same category as seasonal influenza and greatly relaxed its related health measures. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Photo taken May 8, 2023, shows police officers at Quark Ginza 888, a Rolex specialty store in Tokyo's upmarket Ginza shopping district, after wristwatches were stolen in a robbery earlier in the day. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Vehicles are encased in dirt in Itami, Hyogo Prefecture, on May 8, 2023, after the Tenjin River flooded in the western Japan city following heavy rain. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Photo taken on May 8, 2023, shows rare blue carnation flowers air-transported from South America waiting to be shipped in time for Mother's Day in Shibayama, Chiba Prefecture, eastern Japan. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter on May 9, 2023, shows azalea flowers painting Mt. Katsuragi in western Japan red. The 959-meter-high mountain straddles the border between Osaka and Nara prefectures. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Police officers take part in a joint security exercise led by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and Tokyo's Toshima Ward simulating a knife attack on a bus on May 9, 2023, ahead of a Group of Seven summit later this month in the western Japan city of Hiroshima. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
A major hobby show opens in the central Japan city of Shizuoka on May 10, 2023, with 95 companies and two organizations displaying mainly plastic models during the five-day event that is open to buyers for the first three days and the general public on May 13 and 14. Foreign buyers are taking part for the first time in four years after a COVID-19 hiatus. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Japanese cypripediums are in full bloom in Iwaki in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on May 10, 2023. Local elderly people take care of the around 50,000 plants, classified as endangered. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
This year's "ukai" traditional cormorant fishing starts on the Nagara River in the central Japan city of Gifu on May 11, 2023. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
A welcoming reception is held prior to the start of the three-day Group of Seven finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in Niigata, Japan, on May 11, 2023. (Pool photo) (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Japanese Emperor Naruhito (2nd from R), Empress Masako (R), Crown Prince Fumihito (L), Crown Princess Kiko (2nd from L) and Princess Kako (C) attend a garden party at the Akasaka Imperial Gardens in Tokyo on May 11, 2023. The biannual event was held for the first time since November 2018 after a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic and scheduling conflicts. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
A new N700S shinkansen bullet train arrives at JR Shizuoka Station in central Japan on May 11, 2023, following a trial self-driving run using an automatic train operation system ahead of possible commercial use around 2028. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Shattered roof tiles lie scattered around a house in Kisarazu in Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo, after a predawn earthquake jolted eastern Japan on May 11, 2023. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Video: New Tobu Spacia X limited express train
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Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - April 15~21
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - April 8~14
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - April 1-7
