Abductee's mother Sakie Yokota

Abductee's mother Sakie Yokota

Sakie Yokota, whose daughter Megumi was abducted by North Korea in 1977 at age 13, meets the press in Kawasaki near Tokyo on Jan. 27, 2026, before turning 90 on Feb. 4.

Abductee's mother Sakie Yokota

Abductee's mother Sakie Yokota

Sakie Yokota, whose daughter Megumi was abducted by North Korea in 1977 at age 13, meets the press in Kawasaki near Tokyo on Jan. 27, 2026, before turning 90 on Feb. 4.

Abductee's mother Sakie Yokota

Abductee's mother Sakie Yokota

Sakie Yokota, whose daughter Megumi was abducted by North Korea in 1977 at age 13, meets the press in Kawasaki near Tokyo on Jan. 27, 2026, before turning 90 on Feb. 4.

Abductee's mother Sakie Yokota

Abductee's mother Sakie Yokota

Sakie Yokota, whose daughter Megumi was abducted by North Korea in 1977 at age 13, meets the press in Kawasaki near Tokyo on Jan. 27, 2026, before turning 90 on Feb. 4.

Campaigning for general election in Japan

Campaigning for general election in Japan

Japanese Prime Minister and Liberal Democratic Party head Sanae Takaichi makes a stump speech in Tokyo's Akihabara area on Jan. 27, 2026, as official campaigning begins across Japan for the House of Representatives election on Feb. 8.

Campaigning for general election in Japan

Campaigning for general election in Japan

Japanese Prime Minister and Liberal Democratic Party head Sanae Takaichi makes a stump speech in Tokyo's Akihabara area on Jan. 27, 2026, as official campaigning begins across Japan for the House of Representatives election on Feb. 8.

Campaigning for general election in Japan

Campaigning for general election in Japan

Japanese Prime Minister and Liberal Democratic Party head Sanae Takaichi makes a stump speech in Tokyo's Akihabara area on Jan. 27, 2026, as official campaigning begins across Japan for the House of Representatives election on Feb. 8.

Campaigning for general election in Japan

Campaigning for general election in Japan

Japanese Prime Minister and Liberal Democratic Party head Sanae Takaichi makes a stump speech in Tokyo's Akihabara area on Jan. 27, 2026, as official campaigning begins across Japan for the House of Representatives election on Feb. 8.

Campaigning for general election in Japan

Campaigning for general election in Japan

Japanese Prime Minister and Liberal Democratic Party head Sanae Takaichi makes a stump speech in Tokyo's Akihabara area on Jan. 27, 2026, as official campaigning begins across Japan for the House of Representatives election on Feb. 8.

160th anniversary of Japan-Belgium diplomatic ties

160th anniversary of Japan-Belgium diplomatic ties

Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Jan Jambon (L) gives a speech during a ceremony at Egmont Palace in Brussels on Jan. 27, 2026, marking the 160th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Japan and Belgium.

Campaigning for general election in Japan

Campaigning for general election in Japan

Centrist Reform Alliance co-leader Yoshihiko Noda makes a stump speech in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on Jan. 27, 2026, as official campaigning begins across Japan for the House of Representatives election on Feb. 8.

Campaigning for general election in Japan

Campaigning for general election in Japan

Centrist Reform Alliance co-leader Yoshihiko Noda makes a stump speech in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on Jan. 27, 2026, as official campaigning begins across Japan for the House of Representatives election on Feb. 8.

Campaigning for general election in Japan

Campaigning for general election in Japan

Centrist Reform Alliance co-leader Yoshihiko Noda makes a stump speech in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on Jan. 27, 2026, as official campaigning begins across Japan for the House of Representatives election on Feb. 8.

Campaigning for general election in Japan

Campaigning for general election in Japan

Centrist Reform Alliance co-leader Yoshihiko Noda makes a stump speech in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on Jan. 27, 2026, as official campaigning begins across Japan for the House of Representatives election on Feb. 8.

Campaigning for general election in Japan

Campaigning for general election in Japan

Centrist Reform Alliance co-leader Yoshihiko Noda makes a stump speech in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on Jan. 27, 2026, as official campaigning begins across Japan the same day for the House of Representatives election on Feb. 8.

Campaigning for general election in Japan

Campaigning for general election in Japan

Centrist Reform Alliance co-leader Yoshihiko Noda (C) waves his hand in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on Jan. 27, 2026, as official campaigning began across Japan the same day for the House of Representatives election on Feb. 8.

Campaigning for general election in Japan

Campaigning for general election in Japan

Centrist Reform Alliance co-leader Yoshihiko Noda is pictured in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on Jan. 27, 2026. He delivered a stump speech there as official campaigning began across Japan for the House of Representatives election on Feb. 8.

Protest against Japan PM Takaichi

Protest against Japan PM Takaichi

A protester holds up a placard reading "This dissolution is meaningless" at the venue of a stump speech by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, in Tokyo's Akihabara area on Jan. 27, 2026. Takaichi dissolved the House of Representatives on Jan. 23 for a snap general election on Feb. 8.

Protest against Japan PM Takaichi

Protest against Japan PM Takaichi

A protester holds up a placard reading "We must not lose to a prime minister like this" at the venue of a stump speech by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, in Tokyo's Akihabara area on Jan. 27, 2026. Official campaigning began across Japan the same day for the House of Representatives election on Feb. 8.

China return for Ueno zoo pandas

China return for Ueno zoo pandas

People bid farewell to male giant panda Xiao Xiao and his twin sister Lei Lei of Tokyo's Ueno Zoological Gardens as an airplane carrying them left for China from Narita airport near Tokyo on Jan. 27, 2026.

China return for Ueno zoo pandas

China return for Ueno zoo pandas

Male giant panda Xiao Xiao and his twin sister Lei Lei of Tokyo's Ueno Zoological Gardens are loaded into an airplane at Narita airport near Tokyo on Jan. 27, 2026, to depart to China.

China return for Ueno zoo pandas

China return for Ueno zoo pandas

A farewell message for male giant panda Xiao Xiao and his twin sister Lei Lei of Tokyo's Ueno Zoological Gardens is posted on a building of department store Matsuzakaya Ueno in Tokyo on Jan. 27, 2026, ahead of their departure to China.

China return for Ueno zoo pandas

China return for Ueno zoo pandas

A truck carrying male giant panda Xiao Xiao and his twin sister Lei Lei leaves Ueno Zoological Gardens in Tokyo on Jan. 27, 2026 before they are sent to China.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun holds a press conference in Beijing on Jan. 27, 2026.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun speaks at a press conference in Beijing on Jan. 27, 2026.

General election in Japan

General election in Japan

Voters undergo security checks before listening to a stump speech in Hirosaki in Aomori Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on Jan. 27, 2026, the first day of official campaigning for the Feb. 8 House of Representatives election.

Military exercise in Taiwan

Military exercise in Taiwan

The Taiwanese military conducts an exercise in Taichung, Taiwan, on Jan. 27, 2026.

Military exercise in Taiwan

Military exercise in Taiwan

Photo taken on Jan. 27, 2026, shows a high mobility artillery rocket system during a Taiwanese military exercise in Taichung, Taiwan.

Traditional bean-throwing event

Traditional bean-throwing event

A traditional bean-throwing event is held at the World Heritage-listed Fudarakusan-ji temple in Nachikatsuura in Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, on Jan. 27, 2026, for Setsubun celebration in February.

General election in Japan

General election in Japan

Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter shows a crowd gathering in front of JR Akihabara Station in Tokyo on Jan. 27, 2026, as official campaigning begins across Japan for the House of Representatives election on Feb. 8.

General election in Japan

General election in Japan

People listen to a stump speech in Tokyo on Jan. 27, 2026, as official campaigning begins across Japan for the House of Representatives election on Feb. 8.

General election in Japan

General election in Japan

People listen to a stump speech in Tokyo on Jan. 27, 2026, as official campaigning begins across Japan for the House of Representatives election on Feb. 8.

General election in Japan

General election in Japan

People listen to a stump speech in Hirosaki in Aomori Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on Jan. 27, 2026, as official campaigning begins across Japan for the House of Representatives election on Feb. 8.

General election in Japan

General election in Japan

People listen to a stump speech in Tokyo on Jan. 27, 2026, as official campaigning begins across Japan for the House of Representatives election on Feb. 8.

General election in Japan

General election in Japan

People listen to a stump speech in Hirosaki in Aomori Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on Jan. 27, 2026, as official campaigning begins across Japan for the House of Representatives election on Feb. 8.

China return for Ueno zoo pandas

China return for Ueno zoo pandas

People watch a truck carrying male giant panda Xiao Xiao and his twin sister Lei Lei leave Ueno Zoological Gardens in Tokyo on Jan. 27, 2026, before the animals are sent to China, marking the first time that Japan will be without pandas since the first ones arrived in the country in 1972.

China return for Ueno zoo pandas

China return for Ueno zoo pandas

A truck carrying male giant panda Xiao Xiao and his twin sister Lei Lei leaves Ueno Zoological Gardens in Tokyo on Jan. 27, 2026, before the animals are sent to China, marking the first time that Japan will be without pandas since the first ones arrived in the country in 1972.

China return for Ueno zoo pandas

China return for Ueno zoo pandas

People watch a truck carrying male giant panda Xiao Xiao and his twin sister Lei Lei leave Ueno Zoological Gardens in Tokyo on Jan. 27, 2026, before the animals are sent to China, marking the first time that Japan will be without pandas since the first ones arrived in the country in 1972.

China return for Ueno zoo pandas

China return for Ueno zoo pandas

A truck carrying male giant panda Xiao Xiao and his twin sister Lei Lei leaves Ueno Zoological Gardens in Tokyo on Jan. 27, 2026, before the animals are sent to China, marking the first time that Japan will be without pandas since the first ones arrived in the country in 1972.

Campaigning for general election in Japan

Campaigning for general election in Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (R) who heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party makes a stump speech, alongside Japan Innovation Party leader Hirofumi Yoshimura, in Tokyo's Akihabara area on Jan. 27, 2026. Official campaigning begins the same day across Japan for the House of Representatives election on Feb. 8.

Campaigning for general election in Japan

Campaigning for general election in Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (R) who heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and Japan Innovation Party leader Hirofumi Yoshimura make a stump speech in Tokyo's Akihabara area on Jan. 27, 2026, as official campaigning begins across Japan for the House of Representatives election on Feb. 8.

Campaigning for general election in Japan

Campaigning for general election in Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (R) who heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and Japan Innovation Party leader Hirofumi Yoshimura make a stump speech in Tokyo's Akihabara area on Jan. 27, 2026, as official campaigning begins across Japan for the House of Representatives election on Feb. 8.

General election in Japan

General election in Japan

Centrist Reform Alliance co-leader Yoshihiko Noda makes a stump speech in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on Jan. 27, 2026, as official campaigning begins across Japan for the House of Representatives election on Feb. 8.

General election in Japan

General election in Japan

Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya makes a stump speech in Tokyo on Jan. 27, 2026, as official campaigning begins across Japan for the House of Representatives election on Feb. 8.

General election in Japan

General election in Japan

Democratic Party for the People leader Yuichiro Tamaki makes a stump speech in Tokyo on Jan. 27, 2026, as official campaigning begins across Japan for the House of Representatives election on Feb. 8.

General election in Japan

General election in Japan

Japan Innovation Party leader Hirofumi Yoshimura makes a stump speech in Tokyo on Jan. 27, 2026, as official campaigning begins across Japan for the House of Representatives election on Feb. 8.

General election in Japan

General election in Japan

Conservative Party of Japan head Naoki Hyakuta makes a stump speech in Tokyo on Jan. 27, 2026, as official campaigning begins across Japan for the House of Representatives election on Feb. 8.

General election in Japan

General election in Japan

Japanese Communist Party leader Tomoko Tamura makes a stump speech in Tokyo on Jan. 27, 2026, as official campaigning begins across Japan for the House of Representatives election on Feb. 8.

General election in Japan

General election in Japan

Reiwa Shinsengumi co-leader Akiko Oishi makes a stump speech in Osaka on Jan. 27, 2026, as official campaigning begins across Japan for the House of Representatives election on Feb. 8.

General election in Japan

General election in Japan

Social Democratic Party leader Mizuho Fukushima makes a stump speech in Tokyo on Jan. 27, 2026, as official campaigning begins across Japan for the House of Representatives election on Feb. 8.