Here is a selection of Kyodo News photos taken this week in Japan and beyond.
Sept. 30
Shohei Ohtani makes his first public appearance since undergoing elbow surgery earlier in the month, attending a ceremony to accept the Los Angeles' Angels Most Valuable Player award for the third year in a row. (Kyodo)
Nagoya begins an awareness campaign discouraging people from walking on escalators, in an effort to prevent accidents. (Kyodo)
Oct. 1
About 120 fishing boats parade in the Genkai Sea, the southwestern portion of the Sea of Japan, off the city of Munakata in Fukuoka Prefecture, during the Miare Festival. The event prays for the safety of sea traffic and a good haul, and is part of the autumn festival at Munekata Shrine, a World Cultural Heritage site. (Kyodo)
Passengers watch pro wrestlers fight inside a moving train on Yamagata Railway's Flower Nagai Line running in the southern part of Yamagata Prefecture. (Kyodo)
Railway enthusiasts and locals take photos as a "W7 series" Hokuriku Shinkansen bullet train arrives at Fukui Station during a test run. (Kyodo)
Oct. 2
Copies of an extra edition of a newspaper are handed out in front of JR Tokyo Station, after Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels became the first Japanese player to lead a U.S. major league in home runs. (Kyodo)
Scandal-hit male talent agency Johnny & Associates Inc. says it will change its name and establish a new firm to manage its performers in a bid to distance itself from late namesake founder Johnny Kitagawa, revealing that 325 of his sexual abuse victims have requested compensation. (Kyodo)Oct. 3
Discus-carrying four-legged robots operate during discus-throwing competitions at the Asian Games at an athletic field in Hangzhou, China. (Kyodo)
Japan's Matsuri Arai performs in the women's 10-meter platform diving final at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. (Kyodo)
Oct. 4
Japanese fisheries minister Ichiro Miyashita serves scallops from the northeastern city of Ishinomaki at a shopping mall in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. Japan is seeking to expand seafood exports to Southeast Asia amid China's blanket ban on Japanese seafood imports. (Kyodo)
Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki rejects an order by the central government to endorse its modified plan to carry out landfill work for the transfer of a key U.S. military base in Japan's southernmost island prefecture, saying it would be "difficult to approve" the plan by the Oct. 4 deadline. (Kyodo)
Yomiuri Giants manager Tatsunori Hara steps down as manager after 17 seasons in charge of Japan's oldest existing pro baseball club and declares he will be succeeded by one of his biggest stars, former catcher Shinnosuke Abe. (Kyodo)
Oct. 5
The first snow of the season is spotted on the peak of Mt. Fuji, Japan's iconic mountain that straddles Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures. (Kyodo)
Suntory Holdings Ltd. announces a new beer server for restaurants that instantly converts room-temperature draft beer into chilled beer. The machine, named "nomiigo," uses a 350-milliliter The Premium Malt's can per serving. (Kyodo)
Japan's Kazumasa Moto and Kiyou Shimizu win the men's and women's individual kata final for karate at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. (Kyodo)
Oct. 6
Japan's Airi Ebina (C) dives into the water at the start of the marathon swimming women's 10-kilometer final at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. (Kyodo)
Posters to promote Sapporo's bid to host the 2030 Winter Olympics and Paralympics are pictured in the northern Japan city in Hokkaido. Sapporo's apparent decision to abandon its bid to host the events has drawn a mixed reaction from local residents. (Kyodo) 
Tomoko Yoshino raises her fist while delivering a morale-boosting message during her speech at a regular meeting of Japanese Trade Union Confederation, Rengo, the country's largest labor organization, after being reelected as its president. (Kyodo)
Back number:
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - Sept. 23~29
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - Sept. 16~22
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - Sept. 9-15
