Here is a selection of Kyodo News photos taken this week in Japan and beyond.
Sept. 2
Japan FIBA Basketball World Cup co-host Japan punches its ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics after holding on for an 80-71 victory over Cape Verde. (Kyodo)
People lounge on beanbags during an orchestra performance in Yokohama. About 500 concertgoers were allowed to converse, post social media comments and take photographs throughout the event. (Kyodo)
Examiners sort and select the best-looking Asian pears to gift to the imperial family at the Japan Agricultural Cooperatives' Tottori Chuo branch in Kotoura, a town in Tottori Prefecture, a major pear production region in western Japan. (Kyodo)
Sept. 3
Former World Cup and Champions League winner Juan Mata joins Vissel Kobe and tells a press conference, "I want to touch the Japanese culture while contributing to our chase to the title." (Kyodo)Sept. 4
Japan national rugby team members attend a welcoming ceremony in Toulouse, the team's base camp for the Rugby World Cup in France. (Kyodo)
Protesters stage a sit-in in front of the U.S. Marines' Camp Schwab in Nago in Okinawa Prefecture, against the planned relocation of a key U.S. base from another part of the southern Japan island prefecture. Japan's Supreme Court turned down the same day an appeal by Okinawa Prefecture against the state's order to advance landfill work in the neighboring Henoko coastal area for the relocation. (Kyodo)
A digital billboard on the south side of Osaka's landmark Tsutenkaku Tower is lit up on a trial basis, ahead of a switch from neon signs on Sept. 22. (Kyodo)Sept. 5
The first hearing of a trial over a 2019 arson attack at a anime studio is held at the Kyoto District Court. In the hearing, Shinji Aoba admitted the crime that killed 36 people at a famous Japanese anime studio operated by Kyoto Amination Co. (Kyodo)
Japanese reconstruction minister Hiromichi Watanabe visits Tokyo's Toyosu fish market and eats seafood from Fukushima Prefecture to highlight its safety following the release of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea. (Kyodo)
Sept. 6
Red snow crabs are piled up at a port in Sakaiminato in Tottori Prefecture, western Japan, after the season's first catch. (Kyodo)
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at an ASEAN-related meeting in Jakarta criticizes China for banning all seafood imports from his country, describing it as "standing out" in its negative reaction to the release of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea, according to the Japanese government. (Kyodo) 
A field of kochia plants is lit up in the colors of the rainbow at Hitachi Seaside Park in Ibaraki Prefecture, eastern Japan, ahead of its special lighting event starting two days later. (Kyodo)
Sept. 7
Julie Keiko Fujishima (R), who has stepped down as president of Johnny & Associates Inc., and new president Noriyuki Higashiyama hold a press conference in Tokyo. (Kyodo)
An H2A rocket carrying the Japanese space agency's lunar lander lifts off from Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture. (Kyodo)
Asian elephant Pearl and her daughter are pictured at Maruyama Zoo in Sapporo, Hokkaido, northern Japan. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Sept. 8
Former Japan football international Mana Iwabuchi poses for photos at her retirement press conference in Tokyo. (Kyodo)
A man pushes a bicycle on a flooded road in Mobara, Chiba Prefecture in eastern Japan, following heavy rain brought by Typhoon Yun-yeung. (Kyodo)
Back number:
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - Aug. 26 ~ Sept. 1
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - Aug. 19~25
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - Aug. 12~18
