The Golden Gai is a sliver of old Tokyo in a modern metropolis filled with endless gleaming buildings. It's a one-of-a-kind tourist attraction, for sure. But it's also a place for a few drinks and friendly chatter among exhausted workers known as “salarymen”. Here: A man strolls through a narrow alleyway clustered with tiny bars and restaurants at the Golden Gai in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo, July 17, 2019. (Photo by Jae C. Hong/AP Photo)

An Afghan vendor selling birds to be kept as pets wait for customers in his shop in Kabul on December 11, 2021. (Photo by Ahmad Sahel Arman/AFP Photo)

“The Dragon and The Hopper”. Eyrean earless dragon (Tympanocryptis tetraporophora) standing tall on a very hot rock in western Queensland. For a short time it was joined by a hopper, who jumped off before becoming lunch. (Photo by Harrison Warne/Nature Conservancy Australia 2021 Photo Contest)

Palestinians watch a man performs acrobatics on the beach of Gaza City, Friday, June 4, 2021. (Photo by Khalil Hamra/AP Photo)

This aerial photograph taken on January 27, 2024 shows a camel in the desert of Samawa in Iraq's southern province of al-Muthanna. (Photo by Hussein Faleh/AFP Photo)

Ukrainian soldiers of the 71st Jaeger Brigade fire a M101 howitzer towards Russian positions at the frontline, near Avdiivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Friday, March 22, 2024. (Photo by Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo)

Event entertainer Holly Egan poses with a guitar using an angle grinder as Kevin Jay and Nigel Cox spin burning steel wool, sending sparks flying under the A13 in Essex, UK on April 4, 2024. (Photo by Kevin Jay/Picture Exclusive)

Balloons take off during the 44th International Hot Air Balloon Festival in Chateau-d'Oex, Switzerland, on January 25, 2024. (Photo by Denis Balibouse/Reuters)