A surfer waits for a wave as the sun sets Friday, December 10, 2021, in Fujisawa, South of Tokyo. (Photo by Kiichiro Sato/AP Photo)





A diver wearing Santa Claus costume swims in a large fish tank with fish, as visitors wearing protective face masks look on, during an underwater performance for the Christmas celebration, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, at Hakkeijima Sea Paradise in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Japan on December 10, 2021. (Photo by Issei Kato/Reuters)





Firefighters stand on a floor at a building where a fire broke out in Osaka, western Japan Friday, December 17, 2021. Japan's NHK says a fire broke out in the building and dozens of people were feared dead. (Photo by Kyodo News via AP Photo)





Firetrucks are seen in front of a building where a fire broke out in Osaka, western Japan on December 17, 2021 in this photo taken by Kyodo. (Photo by Kyodo News via Reuters)





Onlookers gather outside an eight-story building where a fire broke out earlier Friday in Osaka, western Japan, on December 17, 2021. More than 20 people were feared dead after a fire broke out Friday in a building in Osaka in western Japan, officials said, and police were investigating arson as a possible cause. (Photo by Chisato Tanaka/AP Photo)





Flowers and drinks are placed in front of a building where a fire broke out Friday in Osaka, western Japan, Saturday, December 18, 2021. Japanese police on Saturday searched the house of one of the patients at a mental clinic where the fire gutted an entire floor in the eight-story building, killing over 20 people trapped inside. (Photo by Chisato Tanaka/AP Photo)





A mourner prays in front of offerings near a building where a fire broke out, in Osaka, western Japan Saturday, December 18, 2021. Japanese police on Sunday identified a 61-year-old man as a prime arson suspect after a fire engulfed a mental clinic in the eight-story building where he was a patient, killing more than 20 people who were trapped inside. (Photo by Kyodo News via AP Photo)





Hiroki Sato, the University of Tokyo’s researcher, and Ryosuke Yamamura, Mercari R4D’s researcher, pose with the scooter-type and sofa-type poimo, portable and inflatable mobility devices, during an interview with Reuters at the school's lab in Tokyo, Japan, December 16, 2021. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)





People walk on a wooden pathway Thursday, December 16, 2021, in Yokohama, near Tokyo. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)





Women wearing face masks check their phones after taking a selfie photograph next to a Christmas display on December 21, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo Metropolitan Government reported 38 new coronavirus cases today while fewer than 70 Omicron infections have been recorded so far in the country. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)





Student of Meiji University Yuki Hou licks a screen of Taste the TV (TTTV), a prototype lickable TV screen that can imitate the flavours of various foods, during its demonstration at the university in Tokyo, Japan, December 22, 2021. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)





Women wearing face masks take a selfie photograph as they visit a Christmas market on December 23, 2021 in Yokohama, Japan. The Japanese government has stated they will not immediately retighten restrictions after the first case of community transmission of the Omicron coronavirus variant was confirmed in Osaka yesterday. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)





People wearing a face mask, walk past a Christmas tree, at a shopping mall in Yokohama, near Tokyo, Saturday, December 25, 2021. (Photo by Shuji Kajiyama/AP Photo)





A diver wearing a Santa Claus costume holds a Christmas cake during a show at the Sunshine Aquarium at Ikebukuro in Tokyo, Japan, 25 December 2021. The aquarium did not inform the public about the performance time to avoid overcrowding amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Kimimasa Mayama/EPA/EFE)





People cross a street in heavy snow in the city of Toyama, Toyama prefecture, brought by an extreme cold front along western and northern parts of the country on December 27, 2021. (Photo by JIJI Press via AFP Photo)





Sea lion Leo uses a brush to write the Chinese character for “tiger”, which is the upcoming new year's Chinese zodiac sign, during a press preview at Hakkeijima Sea Paradise in Yokohama on December 27, 2021. (Photo by Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP Photo)





A man and a woman ring the bells Tuesday, December 28, 2021, in Yokohama, near Tokyo. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)





People visit Kanda Myojin Shrine to offer New Year prayers in Tokyo on January 1, 2022. (Photo by Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP Photo)





A staff wearing a protective mask, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, takes picture of 6,500 candle lights as he prepares for a ceremony to wish for overcoming the pandemic and good luck in the upcoming New Year at Hasedera Buddhist temple in Kamakura, south of Tokyo, Japan, December 31, 2021. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)