Japan and beyond: Week in Photos

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

Haruka Tanabe from Japan performs in the final of the 51st Prix de Lausanne ballet competition on Feb. 4, 2023. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

People visit Sapporo Snow Festival in the Hokkaido prefectural capital city in northern Japan on Feb. 4, 2023, with the event starting the same day after a two-year, coronavirus-induced hiatus. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Japanese musician and composer Masanori Takumi (C) celebrates after winning the Grammy Awards' Best Global Music Album for "Sakura" -- featuring songs performed with traditional Asian instruments -- in Los Angeles, California, on Feb. 5, 2023 (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

People form a long line in a lobby of Beijing Capital International Airport on Feb. 5, 2023, ahead of the lifting of a COVID-related ban on overseas group tours the following day. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Survivors sit by a fire near collapsed homes in the eastern Turkish city of Malatya on Feb. 6, 2023, after a deadly 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Turkey and Syria earlier in the day. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

People walk in the snow, covering themselves with blankets, in Malatya, Turkey, on Feb. 7, 2023, a day after a powerful earthquake hit southern Turkey and neighboring Syria. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Japanese Crown Prince Fumihito (2nd from R) and Crown Princess Kiko (R) meet award recipients following an award ceremony for the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Prize and the Japan Academy Medal in Tokyo on Feb. 7, 2023. (Pool photo)(Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Wheelchair tennis player Shingo Kunieda is pictured during a retirement press conference in Tokyo on Feb. 7, 2023. In January, the winner of 28 Grand Slam titles and three Paralympic gold medals in the men's singles announced his retirement while at the top of the world rankings. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Ukraine's ambassador to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky (5th from R, back row) poses for photos on Feb. 8, 2023, with Ukrainian rhythmic gymnasts and Takasaki Mayor Kenji Tomioka (4th from R, back row) in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, eastern Japan. The city has been hosting the team since January to provide a safe environment for the athletes after they fled the war in their homeland. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Photo taken from a fixed-point camera in the Kagoshima Prefecture city of Tarumizu, southwestern Japan, shows plumes of smoke emerge from the Showa crater on Sakurajima after the volcano erupted on Feb. 8, 2023. (Kyodo)

A bell tower at Zenko-ji temple in Nagano, central Japan, is lit up in the yellow and blue colors of the Ukrainian national flag on Feb. 9, 2023. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Members of a Japanese disaster relief team conduct a search and rescue operation in Kahramanmaras, southern Turkey, on Feb. 9, 2023, following a powerful earthquake in southern Turkey and neighboring Syria. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo