Rio Takahashi of Japan gets ready for the final show of the Miss International Queen 2020 transgender beauty pageant in Pattaya, Thailand on March 7, 2020. (Photo by Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters)

Riders from Netherland and Belgium crashes in the women's track cycling madison final during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Izu Velodrome in Izu, Japan, on August 6, 2021. (Photo by Matthew Childs/Reuters)

Picture show a 39-foot whale that was crushed to death hanging lifelessly over the bow of a tanker in Japan. Horrified locals caught sight of the whale as the ship pulled into the harbour of Kurashiki last month, September 2021. (Photo by Newsflash)

“The Ainu (アイヌ?), also called Aynu, Aino (アイノ), and in historical texts Ezo (蝦夷), are indigenous people or groups in Japan and Russia. Historically they spoke the Ainu language and related varieties and lived in Hokkaidō, the Kuril Islands, and much of Sakhalin. Most of those who identify themselves as Ainu still live in this same region, though the exact number of living Ainu is unknown. This is due to ethnic issues in Japan resulting in those with Ainu backgrounds hiding their identities and confusion over mixed heritages. In Japan, because of intermarriage over many years with Japanese, the concept of a 'pure Ainu' ethnic group is no longer feasible. Official estimates of the population are of around 25,000, while the unofficial number is upwards of 200,000 people”. – Wkipedia

Photo: A captive bear drinking from a large bottle held by an Ainu tribeswoman. (Photo by Evans/Three Lions/Getty Images). Circa 1955

A large sand sculpture is seen at the site of Yokohama Sand Art Exhibition – Culture City of East Asia 2014 on July 16, 2014 in Yokohama, Japan. Producer and sand sculptor Katsuhiko Chaen invited artists from around the world including South Korea and China, to recreate the World Heritage and historical buildings in China, Japan and South Korea. The exhibition will be open from July 19 to November 3, 2014. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

A woman holds broken umbrella as a powerful typhoon hits Osaka, western Japan, Tuesday, September 4, 2018. A powerful typhoon blew through western Japan on Tuesday, causing heavy rain to flood the region's main offshore international airport and high winds to blow a tanker into a connecting bridge, disrupting land and air travel. (Photo by Nobuki Ito/Kyodo News via AP Photo)

Japan's On-Art Corp's eight metre tall dinosaur-shaped mechanical suit robot “TRX03” performs during its unveiling in Tokyo, Japan November 10, 2016. Stomping and roaring dinosaurs took to the stage in Tokyo on Thursday as part of a presentation for a proposed entertainment park where visitors will be able to see the realistic replicas first-hand. Japanese firm ON-ART Corp. unveiled man-operated robotic models of raptors, an allosaurus and a tyrannosaurus rex, in a performance at a hotel hall. (Photo by Toru Hanai/Reuters)

As pancake day has creped up on us once again, a Japanese chef has combined our favourite things; cute animals and sugar. Keisuke Inagaki has been a chef at his restaurant La Ricetta in Zama City, Japan, for the last 18 years. He rose to Instagram fame from his Pokemon and anime pancake art, and the time around heis created a lifelike animal series. The 46-year-old chef began making pancakes in 2011 to raise spirits after the devastating nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan. Here: A pancake that looks like a cat, in Zama City, Japan. (Photo by Keisuke Inagaki/Barcroft Images)