Kobayashi Pharmaceutical factory in Osaka

Kobayashi Pharmaceutical factory in Osaka

Photo taken March 27, 2024, shows a factory belonging to Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co. in the western Japan city of Osaka. Five deaths and about 250 hospitalizations have been reported to be possibly linked to the consumption of the company's "beni-koji" red yeast rice dietary supplements.

Meeting of abductees' relatives

Meeting of abductees' relatives

Families of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s, and their supporters stage a rally in Tokyo on May 27, 2023, with about 800 people including Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida taking part.

Meeting of abductees' relatives

Meeting of abductees' relatives

Families of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s, and their supporters stage a rally in Tokyo on May 27, 2023, with about 800 people including Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida taking part.

Vegetable "hina" dolls featuring celebrities

Vegetable "hina" dolls featuring celebrities

AOMORI, Japan, Feb. 27 Kyodo - Japanese "hina" dolls made from about 50 vegetables and fruits depict celebrities at a roadside station in Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, on Feb. 27, 2017. Among them are U.S. President Donald Trump (L in top row), Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike (R in top row) and Piko Taro (3rd from L in 3rd row), known for his song, "Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen." Hina dolls are traditionally displayed at the girls' festival on March 3.

Central Japan volcano Mt. Ontake erupts

Central Japan volcano Mt. Ontake erupts

TOKYO, Japan - Photo taken from a Kyodo News airplane shows columns of smoke rising from Mt. Ontake, a volcano straddling Nagano and Gifu prefectures in central Japan, at 2:28 p.m. on Sept. 27, 2014. A mountain lodge covered in ash is seen at top, to the right. The volcano erupted shortly before noon the same day, with about 10 hikers injured.

Central Japan volcano Mt. Ontake erupts

Central Japan volcano Mt. Ontake erupts

TOKYO, Japan - Photo taken from a Kyodo News airplane shows columns of smoke rising from Mt. Ontake, a volcano straddling Nagano and Gifu prefectures in central Japan, at 2:34 p.m. on Sept. 27, 2014, with Mt. Fuji seen in the background, to the right. The volcano erupted shortly before noon the same day, with about 10 hikers injured.

Famous pottery kilns to be fired after 40-year interval

Famous pottery kilns to be fired after 40-year interval

UTSUNOMIYA, Japan - Kilns used by the late Shoji Hamada, a Japanese ceramic artist credited with developing Mashiko town in Tochigi Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, into a world-renowned pottery center, will be fired in February 2015 for the first time in about 40 years. This file photo of the kilns was taken on July 27, 2014.

Antinuclear advocates fly balloons

Antinuclear advocates fly balloons

TOKAI, Japan - Antinuclear advocates release about 1,000 balloons near Tokai No. 2 nuclear power plant in Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture, on April 27, 2014, in an event to gauge the direction in which radioactive substances will spread in the event of accident at the plant.

2 and a half years after quake

2 and a half years after quake

SENDAI, Japan - Combination photos taken from a Kyodo News helicopter show the "miracle pine" in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, on March 27, 2011 (L), soon after the March 11, 2011, Great East Japan Earthquake, and a restored pine at the same location about two and a half years later on Sept. 6, 2013 (R). The tree, which initially withstood the tsunami and later died, was reassembled for a monument after being dissected for anti-decay treatment.

"N43 degrees" museum to close

"N43 degrees" museum to close

KUSHIRO, Japan - Masaru Miyata, head of the N43 Degrees Museum of Art in Kushiro, Hokkaido, is pictured on Oct. 27, 2012. The private gallery known for its collection of works from countries above 43 degrees north latitude will close in November, with plans to sell about 500 artworks, including pieces by Salvador Dali and Joan Miro.

Seven & I's private-brand clothing items

Seven & I's private-brand clothing items

TOKYO, Japan - Photo taken Aug. 27, 2012, in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward, shows clothing items Seven & I Holdings Co. plans to release under its Seven Premium private brand. The major Japanese retailer will sell about 200 items priced between 380 yen and 1,490 yen, including body-warming innerwear, from Aug. 29 under the brand.

Preservation of Schmoe's House for A-bomb survivors

Preservation of Schmoe's House for A-bomb survivors

HIROSHIMA, Japan - Preservation works on the only remaining house for atomic bomb survivors built under the project ''Houses for Hiroshima'' by the late U.S. peace activist Floyd Schmoe start on Jan. 27, 2012, in Hiroshima's Naka Ward. The city of Hiroshima plans to move the house, more than 60 years old, about 40 meters, without disassembling it, for restoration and preservation.

Preservation of Schmoe's House for A-bomb survivors

Preservation of Schmoe's House for A-bomb survivors

HIROSHIMA, Japan - Preservation works on the only remaining house for atomic bomb survivors built under the project ''Houses for Hiroshima'' by the late U.S. peace activist Floyd Schmoe start on Jan. 27, 2012, in Hiroshima's Naka Ward. The city of Hiroshima plans to move the house, more than 60 years old, about 40 meters, without disassembling it, for restoration and preservation.

Demonstration in Hanoi

Demonstration in Hanoi

HANOI, Vietnam - A man holds a national flag as some 30 people demonstrate in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Nov. 27, 2011. Police suppressed the rally, apparently to protest against China, in about 10 minutes by taking away more than a dozen demonstrators.

Photojournalism exhibition in France

Photojournalism exhibition in France

PERPIGNAN, France - Visitors look at pictures of Japan's March earthquake and tsunami disaster on Aug. 27, 2011 at Visa pour l'Image, a major international photojournalism festival, in Perpignan, southern France, which opened the same day. A special exhibition featuring 50 Japanese disaster portraits, together with about 30 other exhibitions, is open to the public through Sep. 11. Awards for categories including news reporting and feature reporting will be announced in early September.

Tiger orchid in bloom

Tiger orchid in bloom

YONAGO, Japan - A tiger orchid, one of the world's largest orchids, is in bloom at Tottori Hanakairo Flower Park in Tottori Prefecture on July 27, 2011. The flowers are about 10 centimeters in diameter.

Toyota in India

Toyota in India

NEW DELHI, India - Toyota Motor Corp. releases the Etios Liva sedan in New Delhi on June 27, 2011. The Japanese automaker said the same day it will invest about 4.9 billion yen to increase its vehicle production capacity in India by 40 percent in 2012 to meet growing demand in the country.

Health checks on Fukushima residents

Health checks on Fukushima residents

CHIBA, Japan - An employee of the National Institute of Radiological Sciences goes under a body surface pollution monitor to check radioactive exposure during a demonstration for reporters at a facility of the institute in the city of Chiba on June 27, 2011. The demonstration is to show how health examinations including radioactive exposure measurement using whole-body counters are being conducted on residents of Fukushima Prefecture. The health checks began the same day for all of the prefecture's about 2 million residents following the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.

Easy-to-build temp housing

Easy-to-build temp housing

ISHINOMAKI, Japan - A sample easy-to-build temporary housing unit is brought to Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, on March 27, 2011. Inside the unit is a kitchen and bunk bed. Yamaguchi prefectural assemblyman Seiji Okamura, who led a project to develop such housing, said four adults would take only about an hour to set up a unit. Many people lost their homes in the March 11 quake and tsunami.

Easy-to-build temp housing

Easy-to-build temp housing

ISHINOMAKI, Japan - A sample easy-to-build temporary housing unit is brought to Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, on March 27, 2011. Yamaguchi prefectural assemblyman Seiji Okamura, who led a project to develop such housing, said four adults would take only about an hour to set up a unit. Many people lost their homes in the March 11 quake and tsunami.

Flood victims in Pakistan

Flood victims in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A man and a boy stand in front of a tent at a camp shelter for flood evacuees in northwestern Pakistan on Jan. 27, 2011. Over 160,000 people still live in shelters about six months after the disaster.

HTV2 arrives at space station

HTV2 arrives at space station

TSUKUBA, Japan - Officials of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Tsukuba Space Center in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, celebrate after a robot arm at the International Space Center successfully captured the HTV2 transporter on Jan. 27, 2011. The transporter will deliver about 5.3 tons of cargo to the ISS, including food, water and equipment for use in Japan's Kibo laboratory module.

Japanese youth on friendship visit to Shanghai

Japanese youth on friendship visit to Shanghai

SHANGHAI, China - Young people from Japan arrive at Shanghai's Pudong International Airport on Oct. 27, 2010, as part of a program to promote exchanges with Chinese youth. The program involving about 680 college students and workers, who will visit the World Expo in the city, was postponed due to a bilateral dispute stemming from maritime collisions last month near the disputed Senkaku Islands.

Japanese youth on friendship visit to Shanghai

Japanese youth on friendship visit to Shanghai

SHANGHAI, China - Young people from Japan arrive at Shanghai's Pudong International Airport on Oct. 27, 2010, as part of a program to promote exchanges with Chinese youth. The program involving about 680 college students and workers, who will visit the World Expo in the city, was postponed due to a bilateral dispute stemming from maritime collisions last month near the disputed Senkaku Islands.

Japanese youth on friendship visit to Shanghai

Japanese youth on friendship visit to Shanghai

SHANGHAI, China - Young people from Japan chat with a Chinese volunteer (L) at Shanghai's Pudong International Airport on Oct. 27, 2010, as part of a program to promote exchanges with Chinese youth. The program involving about 680 college students and workers, who will visit the World Expo in the city, was postponed due to a bilateral dispute stemming from maritime collisions last month near the disputed Senkaku Islands.

Japanese youths on friendship visit in Shanghai

Japanese youths on friendship visit in Shanghai

NARITA, Japan - Japanese youths wave as they leave for Shanghai from Narita airport near Tokyo on Oct. 27, 2010. They are part of a program involving about 680 college students and workers to visit the World Expo to promote exchanges with Chinese youths. Their trip was postponed due to a bilateral spat stemming from a maritime collision near the disputed Senkaku Islands.

Fossil of large Jurassic crawfish found

Fossil of large Jurassic crawfish found

FUKUSHIMA, Japan - Ayumu Tadano, 13, searches for fossils in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, on June 27, 2010. Tadano has found a fossil of a large crawfish dating from the late Jurassic period, about 150 million years ago, in a layer of earth in the city, a museum curator said on July 17, 2010.

S. Africans queue up for World Cup tickets

S. Africans queue up for World Cup tickets

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - About 100 soccer fans spend the night of May 27, 2010, waiting in line outside a ticket office to purchase tickets for the World Cup soccer finals, which go on sale the next day, in Johannesburg, South Africa. The tournament kicks off June 11.

Sharp to launch solar-powered cell phones in China in February

Sharp to launch solar-powered cell phones in China in February

OSAKA, Japan - This photo shows a solar-powered cellphone which Sharp Corp. said on Jan. 27, 2010, it will launch in China next month with the goal of boosting its annual overall handset shipments in the country fivefold to 5 million units. The solar-powered cellphones are expected to retail for around 3,400 yuan, or about 45,000 yen.

19 war-displaced Japanese return to China

19 war-displaced Japanese return to China

NARITA, Japan - Nineteen war-displaced Japanese wave at well-wishers as they leave Narita airport for China on Nov. 27, 2001 after spending about two weeks in Japan looking for relatives and preparing for eventual repatriation to Japan. Two people have managed to make contact with their relatives, while two others are awaiting for DNA results to confirm their relationship with their Japanese kin.

JR Tokai ordered to pay 49 mil. yen over teen's death

JR Tokai ordered to pay 49 mil. yen over teen's death

NUMAZU, Japan - Yasuo Kawasaki (L) and Nobue Kawasaki, parents of Yusuke Kawasaki, wipe away tears at a news conference in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture, on March 7 after the Shizuoka District Court ordered Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) to pay them 49 million yen in compensation over a 1995 bullet train accident at Mishima Station on the Tokaido Shinkansen Line. On Dec. 27, 1995, their son Yusuke, 17, died after getting his finger caught in a train door and being dragged for about 150 meters.

Drill for plane accident at Haneda airport

A drill for responding to an airplane accident is conducted at Tokyo's Haneda airport on Oct. 27, 2022, with about 440 people from the Japan Coast Guard, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and other organs taking part in a rescue operation under the scenario that a plane had burst into flames after crash-landing.

Drill for plane accident at Haneda airport

Drill for plane accident at Haneda airport

A drill for responding to an airplane accident is conducted at Tokyo's Haneda airport on Oct. 27, 2022, with about 440 people from the Japan Coast Guard, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and other organs taking part in a rescue operation under the scenario that a plane had burst into flames after crash-landing.

Drill for plane accident at Haneda airport

Drill for plane accident at Haneda airport

A drill for responding to an airplane accident is conducted at Tokyo's Haneda airport on Oct. 27, 2022, with about 440 people from the Japan Coast Guard, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and other organs taking part in a rescue operation under the scenario that a plane had burst into flames after crash-landing.

Drill for plane accident at Haneda airport

Drill for plane accident at Haneda airport

A drill for responding to an airplane accident is conducted at Tokyo's Haneda airport on Oct. 27, 2022, with about 440 people from the Japan Coast Guard, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and other organs taking part in a rescue operation under the scenario that a plane had burst into flames after crash-landing.