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 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)

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)

Retired Mongolian-born “yokozuna” wrestler Hakuho (far L), who now goes by the name Miyagino, watches as participants (R) try to push out Japanese wrestler Hakuoho (C) during a sumo class for youngsters on the sidelines of the 14th Hakuho Cup, a competition for young sumo wrestlers from elementary and middle school, at the Kokugikan arena in the Ryogoku area of Tokyo on February 12, 2024. (Photo by Richard A. Brooks/AFP Photo)

A woman in Kimono poses for photos in front of mimosa and cherry blossom trees in Tokyo on March 8, 2024. (Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP Photo)