A woman takes pictures with the Kawazu cherry blossom trees, one of the earliest blooming cherry blossoms in Japan, in Tokyo's Sumida district on March 11, 2024. (Photo by Philip Fong/AFP Photo)

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)

People have their photographs taken as they throw fallen leaves in autumn colours in Tokyo on November 13, 2022. (Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP Photo)

A diver wearing a Santa Claus costume swims with fishes in a large tank during an underwater performance for the upcoming Christmas celebration at Hakkeijima Sea Paradise in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Japan on December 1, 2022. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

People applaud as a delivery robot departs from the Nihonbashi Post Office to deliver traditional New Year's Day cards, during a ceremony in Tokyo on January 1, 2023. (Photo by JIJI Press/AFP Photo)

A pilot demonstrates an aircraft manufactured by US-based LIFT Aircraft in front of Osaka Castle in Osaka on March 14, 2023. (Photo by JIJI Press/AFP Phoot)

This picture taken on April 5, 2022 shows a train travelling along a bridge past cherry blossoms in Tokyo's Shinagawa district. (Photo by Philip Fong/AFP Photo)

An Ezo red fox, or kitakitsune, and her cub are seen at night near the city of Sapporo, northern Japan, 15 May 2022. Authorities are calling population to avoid contact with the animals due to risks of echinococcosis infection. (Photo by JIJI Press/EPA/EFE)