A woman looks at photographs of dogs to choose a pet to rent at Puppy The World on January 24, 2009 in Tokyo, Japan. Rent-a-dog is becoming increasingly popular amongst people who love dogs but are unable to look after a pet full time due to limited living space or long working hours. Customers pay the dog-rental outlet around 2500 yen (32.5 USD) for an hour, and usually take their rented pet for a walk along the nearby beach. (Photo by Junko Kimura/Getty Images)

Only after World War II did the secret spill: Ōkunoshima, located in the Inland Sea of Japan between Hiroshima and Shikoku, was the top-secret site for manufacturing chemical warfare. When the factories were closed down, a number of exotic wild rabbits were seen freely roaming the island. They were assumed to have been the test subjects for the chemical weapons, which the military failed to eradicate when the factory was demolished.

Dancers perform at the Harajuku Omotesando Super Yosakoi Dance festival in Shibuya, Tokyo on August 27, 2022. Super Yosakoi festival, is a two day festival that sees thousands of dancers, in hundreds of teams, energetically perform this unique Japanese dance style that combines traditional and more modern elements of movement and costume. (Photo by Damon Coulter/SOPA Images/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A member of the media has her photograph taken with an exhibit at Ghibli's Grand Warehouse during a media tour of the new Ghibli Park in Nagakute, Aichi prefecture on October 12, 2022. (Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/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 woman with Kimono looks at cherry trees in bloom in Shinjuku Gyoen in Tokyo, Japan on Thursday, April 4, 2024. (Photo by Noriko Hayashi for The Washington Post)

At the end of rice harvesting season, the folks of the Kagawa and Niigata Prefectures in Japan hold a straw festival to celebrate the abundance of the harvest. Dried straws cover wooden frames to form larger-than-life sculptures from animals like sharks and gorillas to vessels such as ships and tanks. The family-friendly event invites visitors of all ages to engage, interact, and play on the enormous structures.

Cormorant masters and boatmen prepare sea cormorants for the nights “Ukai” on July 2, 2014 in Gifu, Japan. In this traditional fishing art “ukai”, a cormorant master called “usho” manages cormorants to capture ayu or sweetfish. The ushos of River Nagara have been the official staff of the Imperial Household Agency of Japan since 1890. Currently six imperial fishermen of Nagara River conduct special fishing to contribute to the Imperial family eight times a year, on top of daily fishing from mid-May to mid-October. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)