June 1, 2012

A model displays an NTT DoCoMo smartphone prototype with 2.4-inch see-through touchscreen that can be used on both sides Wednesday at a telecommunications exhibition in Tokyo.

AFP-JIJI

June 1, 2012

People partake in the "Peace Tea Ceremony" on Thursday at Kinkakuji Temple in the city of Kyoto. Organized by a group led by Satoshi Nagasaka of Kanagawa Prefecture's Tsurumi University, the charity event to support survivors of the March 2011 natural disasters and asylum seekers in Japan drew 700 guests.

KYODO

May 31, 2012

Hideki Matsui hits a two-run home run during Tampa Bay's 7-2 loss against the White Sox on Wednesday in St. Petersburg, Florida. Matsui, appearing in his first MLB game of the season, homered in the second at-bat of his Rays debut.

KYODO PHOTO

May 31, 2012

Food producers from disaster-hit Tohoku prefectures offer their products Wednesday at the Takashimaya department store in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, as the store opens its "ochugen" summer gift campaign.

KYODO PHOTO

May 31, 2012

One of three crested ibises recently born in the wild in Japan walks on the roof of a house in Sado, Niigata Prefecture, on Wednesday.

KYODO PHOTO

May 31, 2012

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda smiles with U.S. Cherry Blossom Queen Taylor Barfield of Maryland and Japan Cherry Blossom Queen Etsuko Tamagawa during a courtesy visit to Noda's office in Tokyo on Wednesday.

AP

May 31, 2012

A spot-billed duck and her chicks are spotted in the Shibaura Canal in Minato Ward, Tokyo, earlier this week. The chicks, hatched in a man-made nest that is part of an ongoing ward project, are the latest born there since the effort began in 2007. According to Minato Ward, chicks have hatched there every year since the nest was built.

SATOKO KAWASAKI PHOTO

May 29, 2012

Members of Osaka Prowres, a local professional wrestling group based in the city of Osaka, join hands Monday to announce the group's foray into the elderly care business beginning in August. Officials said the growing business area would provide new job opportunities for its retiring wrestlers, who have expertise in physical exercise and rehabilitation.

KYODO

May 28, 2012

The south-wing dome of Tokyo Station, which was built in 1914 and is undergoing a major renovation, is seen during a media preview Sunday in this photo taken by the Tokyo Station Hotel. The renovated building, which has been designated an Important Cultural Property, will open in October.

YOSHIAKI MIURA PHOTO

May 27, 2012

Visitors pass by Nebuta floats from Aomori Prefecture at an event that brought together six major summer festivals from across the Tohoku region on Saturday in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, to cheer up residents after last year's earthquake and tsunami.

KYODO

May 27, 2012

Tokyo Skytree visitors gaze over the capital from the 450-meter observation deck Saturday, as the tower marked its first weekend since opening to the public.

KYODO

May 24, 2012

Mitsuoka Motor Co. displays in Tokyo on Wednesday a new classically designed Viewt equipped with a 1.2-liter engine developed by Nissan Motor Co. The vehicle, produced in Japan and Thailand, will go on sale Thursday.

AFP-JIJI PHOTO

May 24, 2012

French patissier Pierre Herme unveils new desserts that will be served to first-class passengers on All Nippon Airways flights to the U.S. and Europe starting June 1. Appearing with Herme in Tokyo on Wednesday are ANA Senior Vice President Tetsuo Fukuda and two cabin attendants.

SATOKO KAWASAKI PHOTO

May 24, 2012

Visitors to Tsutenkaku Tower, a downtown Osaka landmark, touch the feet of the new Billiken-san statue Tuesday. The figure, thought to bring good luck, was replaced for the first time in 32 years, with the latest version sporting blond hair.

KYODO PHOTO

May 23, 2012

Visitors crowd the Solamachi commercial complex at the foot of Tokyo Skytree on Tuesday, the first day the tower was open to the public.

KYODO

May 22, 2012

People observe the annular solar eclipse from the top of Mori Tower in the Roppongi Hills commercial complex in Tokyo on Monday morning.

KYODO

May 21, 2012

Mechanical drummer Kuidaore Taro, a fixture in Osaka's Dotonbori district, is outfitted with special glasses Sunday ahead of Monday's annular eclipse, the first of its kind in Japan in 25 years. Boxed in by high-rises, the drummer muses in his speech balloon, "I wonder if I can see the eclipse." According to the Japan Weather Association, the skies will be cloudy Monday from the Kanto region to Kyushu.

KYODO PHOTO

May 20, 2012

Tourists raft down the Kitayama River, a branch of the Kumano River, in Kitayama, Wakayama Prefecture, as the year's rafting season kicked off Saturday. Long ago, rafts were used to transport lumber. Now they draw some 8,000 visitors every year.

KYODO PHOTO

May 20, 2012

Tohoku Shinkansen trains from past to present are shown to the media Saturday at the Oyama rail yard in Tochigi Prefecture. East Japan Railway Co. invited 1,200 people for the event celebrating the 30th anniversary of the bullet train line.

KYODO PHOTO

May 20, 2012

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II greets Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko on Friday as they arrived for a luncheon at Windsor Castle outside London held in honor of the queen's diamond jubilee. The Imperial Couple were among invited royals from about 30 countries. They later attended a banquet hosted by Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace.

AFP-JIJI PHOTO

May 19, 2012

Employees of eyewear maker Zoff Co. pose in Tokyo Skytree Town Sunglasses that will be sold exclusively at its store in the Tokyo Solamachi shopping complex at the new tower. The complex, featuring 312 shops and restaurants, was shown to the press Friday and will open Tuesday at the same time as the tower itself.

SATOKO KAWASAKI

May 18, 2012

Mayor Naomichi Suzuki of Yubari, Hokkaido, and a fruit wholesaler show off premium-grade Yubari melons that fetched ¥1 million Thursday in the first auction of the harvest season at Sapporo's Central Wholesale Market.

KYODO

May 17, 2012

Atsuko Kamei (third from right) wears a 12-layered kimono in her the role as Saiodai, heroine of the Aoi Festival, which dates to the Heian Period, at Shimogamo Shrine in Kyoto's Sakyo Ward on Wednesday.

KYODO PHOTO

May 17, 2012

Hiroshima officials at Peace Memorial Park on Wednesday check pages in books containing the names of 275,230 victims of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing. The annual practice of airing out the books in front of a cenotaph at the park is designed to prevent damage from humidity ahead of the rainy season.

KYODO PHOTO

May 13, 2012

Visitors to the Thai Festival 2012 attend a performance of traditional dances Saturday in Tokyo's Yoyogi Park. The celebration, which features various forms of entertainment, food and goods from Thailand, ends Sunday.

YOSHIAKI MIURA PHOTO

May 13, 2012

Mikawadai Elementary School in the city of Fukushima, 60 km from the Fukushima No. 1 plant, holds its annual outdoor sports meet Saturday. The event was axed last year due to radiation fears and this year was reduced to half a day, even though the school has been decontaminated. All 51 public elementary schools in the city are staging outdoor meets this year.

KYODO PHOTO

May 12, 2012

Kristine Gramstad, deputy minister of fisheries and coastal affairs of Norway, watches a child fry mackerel at the Kohinata-Daimachi Elementary School in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo, on Friday. Norway accounts for about 90 percent of mackerel imports.

SATOKO KAWASAKI

May 10, 2012

Models from underwear maker Triumph International Japan show off the Super Cool Bra at the firm's headquarters in Tokyo on Wednesday. The cups of the bra, emblazoned with images of fish tanks, are filled with a gel that remains soft and supple even when frozen and keeps the body cool after being left in a freezer for a few hours.

AFP-JIJI PHOTO

May 10, 2012

A crowd gathers Wednesday to open a new mountain trail on Mount Unzen, Nagasaki Prefecture, after the local government lifted an entry ban that was placed on Unzen, Shimabara and Minami Shimabara cities in the wake of a volcanic eruption in 1990. A massive pyroclastic flow struck the city of Shimabara in 1991, killing 43 people.

KYODO PHOTO