People try to catch lucky beans scattered by celebrities during the “Mame-maki”, a bean throwing ceremony, at the Zojoji Buddhist temple Friday, February 3, 2023, in Tokyo. The ritual believed to bring in good luck and drive away evil is performed annually to mark the beginning of the spring in the lunar calendar. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)





The battalions of men in fundoshi, light cotton loincloth, compete to touch the “Lucky Man” during the Hadaka Matsuri, Naked Festival at Konomiya Shrine in Inazawa city, Aichi Prefecture on February 3rd, 2023. The 1,200-year history ritual took place in three years due to the COVID pandemic. (Photo by Hisao Aoki/The Yomiuri Shimbun via AFP Photo)





Yuichi Kamiya, Executive Director of the Japan Alliance for LGBT Legislation, speaks during a press conference Tuesday, February 7, 2023, in Tokyo. Japanese LGBTQ people and rights groups hold a news conference to protest what they say are discriminatory remarks made by top aides of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. They demand his government enact an equality law before G-7 summit. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)





Diver Risa Tanaka rehearses to prepare for the upcoming Valentine’s Day feeding performance at Sunshine Aquarium in Tokyo, Japan, 08 February 2023. The aquarium will have special feeding performance on 13 and 14 February 2023 for Valentine's Day. (Photo by Kimimasa Mayama/EPA)





Red-crowned cranes are seen on February 9, 2023 in Tsurui, Hokkaido, Japan. (Photo by The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images)





A seal wearing heart shaped rings swim in a fish tank for a special event of St. Valentine's Day at the Aqua Park Shinagawa in Tokyo on Monday, February 13, 2023, one day before the St. Valentine's Day. (Photo by Yoshio Tsunoda/AFLO/Rex Features/Shutterstock)





Visitors take pictures of plum blossoms at the Yushima Shinto shrine during the annual plum festival in Tokyo Wednesday, February 15, 2023. (Photo by Shuji Kajiyama/AP Photo)





An H3 rocket sits on the launch pad next to billowing white smoke at Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima, southern Japan Friday, February 17, 2023. Japan’s space agency aborted a planned launch Friday of the first of its new flagship series H3 rocket. (Photo by Kyodo News via AP Photo)





Members of the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra perform during a concert in the Kanda River/Ring Road No. 7 Underground Regulating Reservoir facility on February 18, 2023 in Tokyo, Japan. The classical music concert planned by Tobu Top Tours was held as part of events introducing the reservoir facility maintained by the Tokyo Metropolitan Park Association to draw attention to the facility that was constructed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to control flooding water as typhoons and torrential rains have caused large-scale flood damage throughout Japan in recent years. The inside of the tunnel measures 12.5 meters in diameter with a storage capacity of 540,000 cubic meters, according to its official website. (Photo by Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images)





Visitors hold up smartphone to film Giant panda Xiang Xiang seen at a cage during her last viewing day at Ueno Zoo, before she returns to China for good, Sunday, February 19, 2023 in Tokyo, Japan. Xiang Xiang, who was born six years ago, is the first giant panda to be born and raised naturally at the zoo and is being sent back to China for breeding purposes.  (Photo by Masanori Takei/Kyodo News via AP Photo)





Kawazu-zakura cherry trees are in bloom along a river on February 20, 2023 in Kawazu, Japan. In the small town on the east coast of the Izu Peninsula, a type of cherry blossom that begins to flower two months earlier than the normal type of cherry will be in full bloom at the end of February. (Photo by Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images)





Keisuke Iwaya, CEO of a Japanese space development company, Iwaya Giken, unveils a two-seater cabin and a balloon that the company says is capable of rising to an altitude of 15 miles, which is roughly the middle of the stratosphere, as he speaks during a news conference in Tokyo, Tuesday, February 21, 2023. The Japanese startup company announced plans Tuesday to launch a commercial space viewing balloon flight that it hopes will bring down to earth an otherwise astronomically expensive experience. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)





A woman walks with a dog under Kawazu-zakura cherry trees in bloom on February 20, 2023 in Kawazu, Japan. In the small town on the east coast of the Izu Peninsula, a type of cherry blossom that begins to flower two months earlier than the normal type of cherry will be in full bloom at the end of February. (Photo by Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images)





Cast members perform Giacomo Puccini's Turandot with immersive laser lights created by “teamLab” during a dress rehearsal at Tokyo Bunka Kaikan in Tokyo, Japan on February 21, 2023. (Photo by Issei Kato/Reuters)





Japanese Crown Prince Akishino, right, his wife Crown Princess Kiko and their daughter Princess Kako greet the public during the emperor's 63rd birthday celebration at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Thursday, February 23, 2023. (Photo by Takashi Aoyama/Pool Photo via AP Photo)





Well-wishers wait to see Japan's Emperor Naruhito appear during his 63rd birthday celebration at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Thursday, February 23, 2023. (Phoot by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo/Pool)





An aerial photo taken from a helicopter shows old dry grass of Mt. Omuro being burned on the Izu Peninsula in Ito, Shizuoka Prefecture on February 26, 2023. The annual event aims to accelerate new grass growth. Visitors enjoyed the 15-minute spectacle. (Photo by Toshikazu Sato/The Yomiuri Shimbun via AFP Photo)





Japanese ornamental dolls (hina dolls) are displayed on the stone steps at Tomisaki shrine during the Katsuura Big Hinamatsuri festival in Katsuura city of Chiba prefecture on February 28, 2023. (Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP Photo)





A white-eye bird is seen on an early-flowering cherry blossoms in full bloom at a park in Tokyo, Japan on March 1, 2023. (Photo by Issei Kato/Reuters)





Buddhist monks take part the Nagatoro Hi-Matsuri, or fire walking festival, to pray for good health and safety in Nagatoro town, Saitama prefecture on March 5, 2023. (Photo by Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP Photo)