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

 

Sept. 23

The 19th Asian Games begins in China's Hangzhou, home to many high-tech companies, with President Xi Jinping attending the opening ceremony at an 80,000-capacity stadium. (Kyodo)
 
A Kamome bullet train departs JR Nagasaki Station, marking the first anniversary of the start of its commercial services on the Nishi-Kyushu Shinkansen Line in Saga and Nagasaki prefectures. (Kyodo)
 

Sept. 24

Ozeki Takakeisho captures his fourth top-division title by winning a championship playoff against 21-year-old rank-and-file sensation Atamifuji at the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament. (Kyodo)
 
Japanese swimming star Rikako Ikee gets off to a bitter start to her Asian Games campaign as her 4x100-meter freestyle relay team finished a distant second behind China, which swept all seven gold medals on offer on the opening day in the pool. (Kyodo)
 
Japan's Motoyoshi Araki performs in the men's changquan event at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. (Kyodo)
 

Sept. 25

Fifteen-year-old Japanese skateboarder Hinano Kusaki wins the women's park gold medal at the Asian Games with breathtaking tricks, including a 540. (Kyodo)
 
Japan had to settle for silver as host China finished head and shoulders above the rest in the women's gymnastics team final at the Asian Games in Hangzhou. (Kyodo)
 
A 100-meter Buddhist statue of Kannon, the Goddess of Mercy, in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, is temporarily colored pale pink amid renovation work. (Kyodo)
 

Sept. 26

Japan head coach Jamie Joseph goes with the tried-and-tested as he named a virtually unchanged team to take on Samoa on Sept. 28 at the Rugby World Cup in France. (Kyodo)
 
Newspaper delivery robots operate at the main media center for the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. (Kyodo)

Sept. 27

Kiso in Nagano Prefecture, central Japan, commemorates the ninth anniversary of the deadly Mt. Ontake eruption. (Kyodo)

Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki speaks to the press at the prefectural government building in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture in Japan. Tamaki declined the central government's proposal aimed at obtaining the local government's approval to push ahead with landfill work for the relocation of a key U.S. base within the southern island prefecture. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Japanese footballer Wataru Endo is pictured in action for Liverpool against Leicester City in the third round of the Carabao Cup at Anfield in Liverpool, England. (Kyodo)

Sept. 28

Young apprentice geisha rehearse for a public dance performance called ''Onshukai,'' at a theater in Kyoto's Higashiyama Ward. (Kyodo)
Japan keep alive their hopes of reaching the knockout stages of the Rugby World Cup as they beat Samoa 28-22 in front of 31,794 fans at a hot and muggy Stadium de Toulouse.
Taiwan unveils its first indigenous defense submarine, "Narwhal," in what the island's leader Tsai Ing-wen describes as a milestone in "defense independence" amid cross-strait tensions. (Kyodo)

Sept. 29

Posters adorn the interior of a Hanshin Electric Railway Co. train car in celebration of the Hanshin Tigers baseball team's first Central League title win in 18 years. (Kyodo)
Japanese Princess Kako is pictured at Tottori airport in Tottori Prefecture prior to her flight back to Tokyo. She was recuperating at a hotel in the western Japan prefecture after testing positive for COVID-19 on Sept. 24. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Back number:

Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - Sept. 16~22

Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - Sept. 9-15

Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - Sept. 2~8