People see off Japan's new whaling mothership, the Kangei Maru, after the ship's launch ceremony at a port in Shimonoseki city, Yamaguchi prefecture on May 21, 2024. The nearly 9,300-tonne ship set sail on its maiden hunting voyage on May 21, heralding a new era for the controversial practice defended by the government as an integral part of national culture. (Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP Photo)





Sony Group CEO Kenichiro Yoshida attends the company's annual strategy briefing in Tokyo, Japan, on May 23, 2024. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)





Mt. Fuji is seen through a hole on a black screen installed across from a convenience store in Fujikawaguchiko town, Yamanashi prefecture, central Japan on May 24, 2024. The town that erected the huge black screen last week in an attempt to stop tourists from snapping photos of Mount Fuji and overcrowding the area has discovered holes in the screen and is working to repair them, officials said Tuesday. (Photo by Kyodo News via AP Photo)





Spectators cover themselves with plastic basins while others throw hot spring water to revellers carrying a portable shrine, a Mikoshi, during a parade at the Yukake Matsuri, the hot spring water splashing festival, in Yugawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, on May 25, 2024. About 60 tons of hot spring water was used for this festival which started 41 years ago to promote the hot spring village, an organizer said. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)





Tourists walk near festive lanterns Monday, May 27, 2024, in Tokyo. The names of the festival sponsors are written on the lanterns. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)





A view of Sentai Jizo, or 1000 stone statues, at “Sessho Seki” or “Killing Stone” Sunday, June 2, 2024, in Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture northern Japan. Sessho Seki is one of the most famous tourist attractions in the region. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)





Mount Fuji is pictured in Fuji City, Shizuoka prefecture, Japan, 10 April 2024 (issued 07 June 2024). On 07 June, Masahiro Kubota of the Fuji City Exchange and Tourism Division confirmed that a metal fence will be installed in July to block tourists' access to a famous photo spot at Mount Fuji Dream Bridge. In the meantime, the city installed temporary toilets and a parking lot to cope with the flow of foreign tourists. (Photo by JIJI Press/EPA)





A filling machine demonstrates at HEISHIN Ltd. booth during the FOOMA Japan 2024 (Food Processing Technology Expo) at Tokyo Big Sight on June 07, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan. The show is the premier exhibition for food manufacturing technologies, bringing together 1000 companies to showcase solutions for Japanese food production. (Photo by Takashi Aoyama/Getty Images)





A visitor checks cookie cutters at Tsukiji Outer Market Friday, June 7, 2024, in Tokyo. The former Tsukiji Fish Market is one of the popular tourist spots in Tokyo. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)





Priests perform a traditional Japanese ritual called “Chinkasai”, or a flower festival, at Namiyoke Inari shrine Friday, June 7, 2024, in Tokyo. Chinkasai is performed to protect against or ward off plagues and diseases. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)





A man on an electric scooter crosses an intersection in central Tokyo, Friday, June 7, 2024 in Tokyo. (Photo by Shuji Kajiyama/AP Photo)





A foreign tourist walks down the stairs leading to the Fujisan Yumeno Ohashi, or “Mount Fuji Great Dream Bridge” as the Mount Fuji is seen in the background, in Fuji City, Shizuoka prefecture, central Japan, 08 June 2024. The Fujisan Yumeno Ohashi, or “Mount Fuji Great Dream Bridge”, is an overpass crossing a river, featuring a walkway separated from the road by a waist-high concrete wall. This location has gained popularity among foreign visitors due to its view of Mount Fuji, which has gone viral on social media. Tourists flock to the overpass stairs to take pictures that create the illusion of leading directly to Japan's highest peak. In response to the influx of foreign tourists, the municipality has installed a temporary toilet, opened a parking lot, and hired security guards. Due to safety concerns with visitors crossing the road to reach the center of the motorway, the local branch of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism plans to install a 1.8-meter tall fence in July 2024 to prevent tourists from stepping into the middle of the road. (Photo by Franck Robichon/EPA)





Participants carry a portable shrine or “mikoshi” through the streets during the Tsukiji Shishi Matsuri festival in Tokyo on June 9, 2024. (Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP Photo)





Participants carry a portable shrine or “mikoshi” through the streets during the Tsukiji Shishi Matsuri festival in Tokyo on June 9, 2024. (Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP Photo)





Visitors walk on the Kintaikyo Bridge, a historical wooden bridge built in 1673 in Iwakuni city of Yamaguchi Prefecture on June 10, 2024. (Photo by Philip Fong/AFP Photo)





Nihon University professor and head of Nihon University Animal Medical Center Kazuya Edamura, 49, points to cat photos on a computer screen, which are used to train the AI of “CatsMe!”, an AI-driven smartphone application jointly developed by tech startup Carelogy and researchers at Nihon University that purports to tell when a cat is feeling pain, as he gives a lecture to students on diagnosing pain in cats, at the medical center in Fujisawa, south of Tokyo, Japan on June 11, 2024. (Photo by Issei Kato/Reuters)





Nihon University professor and head of Nihon University Animal Medical Center Kazuya Edamura, 49, uses “CatsMe”, an AI-driven smartphone application jointly developed by tech startup Carelogy and researchers at Nihon University that purports to tell when a cat is feeling pains, during an examination to a cat at the medical center in Fujisawa, south of Tokyo, Japan on June 11, 2024. (Photo by Issei Kato/Reuters)





People rest in the shade at the Tsukiji outer market in Tokyo on June 12, 2024. (Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP Photo)





Keiko Takeda, 88, teaches seven years old elementary school students who come to maintain the iris flower field in Grandpa and Grandma's Flower Garden on June 13, 2024 in Sayo, Japan. In the quaint town of Nishi-Shinjuku, a group of eight elderly residents, predominantly aged 80 and 100, are making a concerted effort to revitalize their community by cultivating a vibrant flower garden within abandoned rice terraces. This endeavor aims to attract outsiders to their remote town, which is struggling due to declining birth rates and mass migration to urban areas. The town's 27 houses, with only seven occupied, serve as a poignant representation of Japan's broader population crisis. The iris flower site, aptly named Grandpa and Grandma's Flower Garden, boasts approximately 15,000 irises from 170 varieties across 12 hectares. Local elementary and high school students regularly visit the garden to lend a hand and foster a sense of community. Japan has witnessed a historic milestone, with the number of elderly individuals aged 75 and over surpassing 20 million for the first time. This demographic accounts for 16.1% of the total population, which has decreased by 595,000 to 124,352,000, according to the latest statistics released by the Internal Affairs Ministry. (Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images)





People using parasols to shelter from the sun walk in the Ginza area of Tokyo on June 14, 2024. (Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP Photo)