A staff member works on the temari at Sanuki Kagari Temari in Kawaramachi, Kagawa prefecture, Japan, on September 5, 2024. (Photo by Ayaka McGill/AP Photo)





Cleaner Kazuyoshi Taguchi cleans the head section of the Ushiku Daibutsu giant Buddha statue in Ushiku of Ibaraki Prefecture on September 9, 2024. The 120-metre giant Buddha statue which stands northeast of Tokyo on Monday received an annual “soot removal” by veteran cleaners of more than 20 years. (Photo by Philip Fong/AFP Photo)





Two Japanese macaques enjoy the autumn among the cherry trees in Kyoto, Japan in the second decade of September 2024. Also known as the snow monkey, it is a terrestrial monkey species that is native to Japan. In recent studies, the species has been found to develop different accents, similar to human cultures. (Photo by Atsuyuki Ohshima/Media Drum Images)





A security guard holds a no cycling sign in the pedestrian zone of Tokyo's Ginza district during the “Respect for the Aged Day” public holiday on September 16, 2024. (Photo by Philip Fong/AFP Photo)





Bank of Japan (BoJ) governor Kazuo Ueda attends a press conference at BoJ headquarters after a monetary policy meeting in central Tokyo on September 20, 2024. (Photo by Philip Fong/AFP Photo)





Japanese sumo wrestler Onosato receives the Prime Minister's Cup after finishing 13-2 for the best record to take the championship on the final day of the 15-day Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo on September 22, 2024. (Photo by JIJI Press via AFP Photo)





Local residents look at a car trapped in a destroyed road due to heavy rainfall in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, 21 September 2024. The Japan Meteorological Agency has issued a heavy rain emergency warning for Suzu, Wajima and Noto town following torrential rain that hit New Year's Day's quake-hit Noto peninsula, causing landslides and floods. (Photo by JIJI Press/EPA/EFE)





A man pushes his bicycle along a muddy sidewalk following heavy rain in Wajima city of Ishikawa prefecture on September 22, 2024. Heavy rain lashed central Japan on September 22, with floods and landslides leaving one dead and at least six missing in an area already devastated by a major earthquake this year. (Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP Photo)





Participants stand on the beach while waiting for the start of the Ohara Hadaka Festival, which is held as part of the autumn celebration and prayers for a good harvest, in Isumi, Chiba Prefecture, Japan on September 23, 2024. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)





A man looks on as debris washed away from flooding is seen piled by houses along the Tsukada river following heavy rain in Wajima city, Ishikawa prefecture on September 23, 2024. Heavy rain that triggered floods and landslides on a Japanese penisula recovering from an earthquake this year killed at least six people, local media reported on September 23. (Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP Photo)





A collapsed bridge is seen following heavy rain in Wajima city, Ishikawa prefecture on September 22, 2024. Heavy rain lashed central Japan on September 22, with floods and landslides leaving one dead and at least six missing in an area already devastated by a major earthquake this year. (Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP Photo)





Participants carry a portable shrine, a Mikoshi, into the sea as part of autumn celebrations and prayers for a good harvest during the Ohara Hadaka Festival in Isumi, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, on September 23, 2024. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)





n this aerial image, fish boats parade during the Miare Festival, in hope of good catch as a part of Munakata Taisha Shrine's Autumn Festival on October 1, 2024 in Munakata, Fukuoka, Japan. (Photo by The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images)





Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a plenary session at the lower house of parliament on October 09, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan. Ishiba announced the dissolution of the House of Representatives for a snap election that is scheduled to be held on Oct. 27. (Photo by Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images)





Artists wearing traditional clown masks prepare to march during the annual Shinto festival called the Grand Festival at the Kotohiragu shrine in the Toranomon business district of Tokyo, Thursday, October 10, 2024. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)





Dancers perform a “Noh” dance-drama during the annual Shinto festival called the Grand Festival at the Kotohiragu shrine in the Toranomon business district of Tokyo, Thursday, October 10, 2024. (Phoot by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)





Artists wearing traditional clown masks prepare to march during the annual Shinto festival called the Grand Festival at the Kotohiragu shrine in the Toranomon business district of Tokyo, Thursday, October 10, 2024. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)





Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) co-chair Toshiyuki Mimaki, who survived the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, uses a magnifier to see the monitor on a laptop while attending a press conference via an online video call in Hiroshima, western Japan, on October 12, 2024. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)





A participant in a tiger-themed costume walks during the “bakeneko” or supernatural cat festival as a Halloween parade in the Kagurazaka district of Tokyo on October 13, 2024. (Photo by Philip Fong/AFP Photo)





People dressed as cats and supernatural cats, known as “bakeneko”, take part in a parade to celebrate the upcoming Halloween, during the Kagurazaka Bakeneko Festival in Tokyo, Japan on October 13, 2024. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)