Revellers release balloons as they take part in New Year celebrations in Tokyo, Japan on January 1, 2023. (Photo by Issei Kato/Reuters)





A woman in Japanese traditional kimono attire rings in the new year by joining a Buddhist ritual called “Joya no Kane” at Sensoji Buddhist temple in Tokyo, Sunday, January 1, 2023. In the ritual, temple bells are tolled 108 times, it's said, to get rid of people's 108 vices and earthly desires in the previous year, to make a fresh start in the new year. (Photo by Hiro Komae/AP Photo)





Worshipers carry a “Mikoshi” or portable shrine in the sea during a festival to wish for calm waters in the ocean and good fortune in the new year, in Oiso, Kanagawa prefecture, west of Tokyo, Japan on January 1, 2023. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)





Participants wearing only loincloths compete to get hold of a wooden ball, which is believed to bestow good luck to those who touch it, while getting splashed with cold water in the Tamaseseri festival at Hakozakigu Shrine on January 3, 2023 in Fukuoka, Japan. The ritual also has a divination aspect to it, and participants are divided into “land” and 'sea' teams to forecast a successful harvest for the year. (Photo by The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images)





Business people offer prayers for prosperity for their companies and the economy on the first business day of the year at the Kanda Myojin Shrine in Tokyo, Japan, 04 January 2023. Thousands of people visited the shrine on the first business days of the New Year to pray for prosperity in their business endeavors. (Photo by Franck Robichon/EPA/EFE)





A man carries a Kumade (a bamboo rake decorated with good luck charms) at Kanda Myojin Shrine on January 04, 2023 in Tokyo, Japan. Kanda Myojin Shrine is located near several business districts in Tokyo and many people visit the shrine on the first day of work to pray for thriving business for a new year. (Photo by Takashi Aoyama/Getty Images)





A shinto priest performs during a ceremony on January 04, 2023 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Takashi Aoyama/Getty Images)





People visit Kanda Myojin Shrine to offer New Year prayers in Tokyo on January 4, 2023. (Photo by Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP Photo)





A man prays at Kanda Myojin Shrine on January 04, 2023 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Takashi Aoyama/Getty Images)





A man ties a “omikuji” fortune paper stripe at Kanda Myojin Shrine on January 04, 2023 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Takashi Aoyama/Getty Images)





People pray at Kanda Myojin Shrine on January 04, 2023 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Takashi Aoyama/Getty Images)





A sushi restaurant staff member holds the cut tail of the auctioned 212-kilogram Bluefin tuna after the New Year's first auction of the Toyosu Market, at the Kaiten Sushi Ginza Onodera in Tokyo, Japan, 05 January 2023. Yukitaka Yamaguchi, president of wholesaler Yamayuki, and the company operating the Sushi Ginza Onodera restaurants, secured the first tuna auction of the New Year with a bid of almost 257,000 euros (36.04 million Japanese Yen). (Photo by Franck Robichon/EPA/EFE)





Participants take part in the annual New Year calligraphy contest at Nippon Budokan hall in Tokyo on January 5, 2023. (Photo by Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP Photo)





A staff beats a drum to start the annual New Year's calligraphy contest at the Budokan martial arts hall Thursday, January 5, 2023, in Tokyo. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)





Participants write with ink brushes during the New Year's first calligraphy contest at Nippon Budokan Hall in Tokyo, Japan, 05 January 2023. Around 1,800 people of all ages from across the nation participated in the annual event to display their Japanese calligraphic skills. (Photo by Franck Robichon/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)





Members of a traditional firefighting preservation group march during the annual New Year's Fire Brigade Review Friday, January 6, 2023, in Tokyo. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)





A member of the Edo Firemanship Preservation Association displays his balancing skills atop a bamboo ladder during Tokyo Fire Department's New Year's Fire review in Tokyo, Japan on January 6, 2023. (Photo by Issei Kato/Reuters)





Firefighters playing survivors, gesture to ask for help at a mock disaster-hit building during the annual New Year's Fire Brigade Review Friday, January 6, 2023, in Tokyo. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)





Shinto believers of the Teppozu Inari Shrine take a bath in cold water to purify their souls and bodies during a New Year ritual in Tokyo on January 8, 2023. (Photo by Philip Fong/AFP Photo)





Shinto believers of the Teppozu Inari Shrine warm up before taking a bath in cold water to purify their souls and bodies during a New Year ritual in Tokyo on January 8, 2023. (Photo by Philip Fong/AFP Photo)