Hideki Tokoro, president of whaling company Kyodo Senpaku, boards Japan's new whaling mothership, the Kangei Maru, following the ship's launch ceremony at a port in Shimonoseki city, Yamaguchi prefecture on May 21, 2024. The nearly 9,300-tonne ship set sail on its maiden hunting voyage on May 21, heralding a new era for the controversial practice defended by the government as an integral part of national culture. (Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP Photo)

This aerial image shows autumn leaves at their peak as they surround Tsutenkyo Bridge amongst the grounds of Tofukuji Temple, in the city of Kyoto on November 27, 2024. (Photo by JIJI Press/AFP Photo)

Participants bathe in ice-cold water during a ceremony at Teppozu Inari Shrine in Tokyo, Japan, 12 January 2025. 80 men and women took part in the ice water endurance ceremony to purify their souls and pray for good health in the new year. (Photo by Franck Robichon/EPA/EFE)

Kimono-clad Japanese young women stand in a train after attending a Coming of Age Day ceremony at Yokohama Arena, in Yokohama, Japan, 13 January 2025. Thousands of participants attended the ceremony of the Coming of Age Day in Yokohama, the day celebrating all those who reached 20 years of age, which is considered adulthood in Japan. (Photo by Franck Robichon/EPA/EFE)

Members of the media touch a moving model of a Tyrannosaurus, which uses a dinosaur-type human-operated mechanical suit called “Dino-Techne” by Japanese firm On-Art, during a media preview of the Dinoa Live Exhibition / Amazing Dinosaur Art Exhibition in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo on December 10, 2020. (Photo by Philip Fong/AFP Photo)

People wearing face masks walk through Ginza area on December 27, 2020 in Tokyo, Japan. Japan announced it will close its borders to non-resident foreign nationals from tomorrow until the end of January after two people were discovered to be infected with a new strain of Covid-19 coronavirus that has begun spreading around the world. The country is also grappling with a surge in coronavirus infections, with Tokyo reporting 708 cases today. To date, Japan has recorded 218,453 infections, 3,052 deaths and 3,052 recoveries from the virus. (Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/Getty Images)

Women dressed in kimonos pose for a selfie photograph at a deserted torii path Fushimi Inari Taish shrine on January 18, 2021 in Kyoto, Japan. Kyoto, along with a Osaka and several other prefectures, was brought under a state of emergency last week by the Japanese government as they grapple to contain the third, and most virulent, wave of Covd-19 coronavirus to hit the country. (Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images)

A man holding a pet dog walks past blooming cherry blossoms along the Meguro river in Tokyo, Japan, March 27, 2022. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)