Here is a selection of Kyodo News photos taken this week in Japan and beyond.
Feb. 10
Two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani begins his first spring training with the Los Angeles Dodgers, as the club gets an early start for a season that will begin March 20 in Seoul with two games against the San Diego Padres. (Kyodo)
Japan and the world react with an outpouring of grief and tributes after the death of famed Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa, with some recalling his passionate and beloved character, and others hailing him as a "magician of classical music." (Kyodo)
A dragon dance is performed at a park in Beijing as Lunar New Year celebrations begin on the first day of the Year of the Dragon. (Kyodo)
The Nagasaki Lantern Festival kicks off in the southwestern Japan city, coinciding with the first day of the Lunar New Year. (Kyodo)
Feb. 11
Cherry blossom trees are in bloom along a river in Kawazu, Shizuoka Prefecture. The cherry blossoms in the central Japan town are known for their early flowering. (Kyodo)
The Japan women's basketball team books its place in the Paris Olympics by winning a four-team qualifying tournament in Sopron, Hungary, with a 2-1 record. It will be Akatsuki Japan's third straight Olympics. (Kyodo)
Swimming races begin as the World Aquatics Championships enter the 10th day of competition in Doha, Qatar. (Kyodo)
Feb. 12
Hilltop Hotel, an old-fashioned establishment in Tokyo that served as the regular lodgings for many renowned figures in Japanese literature, closes for an undetermined period due to the run-down condition of the 87-year-old building. (Kyodo)
Dancers in colorful costumes on elaborate giant floats take part in Carnival celebrations in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Kyodo)
Feb. 13
Boiled snow crabs, a specialty of Sakai, Fukui Prefecture, are picked for presentation to the Japanese imperial family, an annual tradition that began in 1922. (Kyodo)
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average surges over 1,000 points to briefly trade above 38,000 for the first time in 34 years after major semiconductor manufacturing equipment maker Tokyo Electron's upward revision of its profit projections. The benchmark index closed at its highest level since January 1990. (Kyodo)
Feb. 14
Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto declares victory in Indonesia's presidential election, based on surveys by private pollsters, in his third bid to lead Southeast Asia's largest democracy. (Kyodo)
Giant panda Yuihin is given an ice block as a Valentine's Day gift at Adventure World zoo and amusement park in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan. (Kyodo)
Shohei Ohtani cuts an impressive figure as he takes batting practice in a Los Angeles Dodgers uniform for the first time at spring training. (Kyodo)
Feb. 15
Red-crowned cranes, designated as a Japanese special national treasure, are spending the winter on snow-covered feeding grounds in the Hokkaido village of Tsurui, northern Japan. (Kyodo)
Japanese museums say a lower jawbone fossil from a tyrannosaurid dinosaur was found in a roughly 74-million-year-old layer of earth from the Late Cretaceous period in southwestern Japan, the first time a jawbone fragment belonging to the family has been discovered in the country. (Kyodo)
The Nikkei stock index ends above 38,000 for the first time in 34 years, lifted by semiconductor-related companies amid hopes for growth in artificial intelligence technology. (Kyodo)
Feb. 16
Japan and Australia battle it out in a women's wheelchair basketball international friendly at Asue Arena Osaka. (Kyodo)
North Korea marks the 82nd anniversary of the birth of the country's late leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang. (Kyodo)
Veteran Japanese ski jumper Noriaki Kasai celebrates advancing from the qualifying round of a World Cup meet at Okurayama Ski Jump Stadium in Sapporo. The 51-year-old made it to the main round of a World Cup event for the first time in four seasons. (Kyodo)
Back number:
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - Feb. 3-9
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - Jan. 27-Feb. 2
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - Jan. 20-26
Japan and beyond: Week in Photos - Jan. 13-19
