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Dolphin hunt in Taiji

TAIJI, Japan - Boats of local fishermen in the town of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, leave the port at dawn on Dec. 22, 2010, to hunt dolphins. The coastal town is known as the oldest whaling town in Japan.

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Crested ibis sanctuary in China

BEIJING, China - A farmer is uses cattle to plow a rice field in a sanctuary for crested ibises in Yangxian, Shaanxi Province, in China, on Dec. 22, 2010. The lives of the ibises, which feed on loaches, frogs and insects in rice paddies, depend on farmers in the sanctuary who refrain from using agricultural chemicals.

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Crested ibis sanctuary in China

BEIJING, China - A wild crested ibis flies near local farmers in its sanctuary in Yangxian, Shaanxi Province, in China, on Dec. 22, 2010.

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Crested ibis sanctuary in China

BEIJING, China - A wild crested ibis flies over farmland in its sanctuary in Yangxian, Shaanxi Province, in China, on Dec. 22, 2010.

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Crested ibis sanctuary in China

BEIJING, China - A pair of wild crested ibises perch on branches near a farmhouse in Yangxian, Shaanxi Province, in China, on Dec. 22, 2010.

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Guangzhou motor show

SHANGHAI, China - Visitors fill the venue of the Guangzhou motor show in the southern Chinese city on Dec. 22, 2010.

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Kim Jong Un visit

BEIJING, China - This photo printed in the Dec. 22, 2010 edition of the Rodong Sinmun shows a sign at a factory in North Korea's Chagang Province indicating the country's leader-in-waiting visited there together with Kim Jong Il. The sign reads, ''A production facility visited by the venerable comrade Kim Jong Un on May 9, 2009.''

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Crew members rescued from stranded freighter

IWAKI, Japan - Crew members of the Panamanian-registered cargo ship Sea Ace are rescued by a Japan Coast Guard helicopter after the vessel was stranded on a beach in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, on Dec. 22, 2010.

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Iwakuma presents children with Christmas gifts

SENDAI, Japan - Rakuten Eagles pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma poses for photos with children suffering from serious diseases at Sendai House, in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, on Dec. 22, 2010 when he visited there to give them Christmas gifts.

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Huis Ten Bosch theme park in Nagasaki Pref.

SASEBO, Japan - Hideo Sawada, president of Huis Ten Bosch Co., speaks during a press conference in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, on Dec. 22, 2010. Sawada said that for the first half of fiscal 2010, the theme park recorded its first net profit since opening in 1992.

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Crew members rescued from stranded freighter

IWAKI, Japan - Japan Coast Guard personnel rescue crew members of the stranded Panamanian-registered cargo ship Sea Ace at a beach in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, on Dec. 22, 2010.

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DPJ's No. 2 Okada cautious over sworn Diet testimony by Ozawa

TOKYO, Japan - Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Katsuya Okada speaks at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Dec. 22, 2010. Okada said his party will continue to seek unsworn testimony by ruling party kingpin Ichiro Ozawa before the House of Representatives' ethics panel for now.

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Nissan delivers 1st Leaf EV in Japan to Kanagawa Pref.

YOKOHAMA, Japan - Kanagawa Gov. Shigefumi Matsuzawa (R) receives a key for a Nissan Motor Co. Leaf electric vehicle (in back) from Nissan Chief Operating Officer Toshiyuki Shiga in a delivery ceremony at the Kanagawa Prefecture offices in Yokohama on Dec. 22, 2010. Nissan delivered 10 Leafs to the prefectural government as the first delivery of the vehicle in the domestic market.

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Police send papers to prosecutors on collision video leak case

KOBE, Japan - Masaharu Isshiki (R), an officer of the Kobe Coast Guard Office in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, leaves the office on Dec. 22, 2010. Tokyo police sent papers to prosecutors the same day on Isshiki who has admitted leaking diplomatically sensitive footage of collisions between Chinese and Japanese vessels near the disputed Senkaku Islands, leading to the officer's resignation.

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Huis Ten Bosch theme park in Nagasaki Pref.

SASEBO, Japan - Visitors stroll along a walkway inside Huis Ten Bosch, a theme park resort modeled on a mediaeval 17th century Dutch town, in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, on Dec. 22, 2010. For the first half of fiscal 2010, the theme park recorded its first net profit since opening in 1992.

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Fully-remodeled fuel-efficient Vitz compact car released

YOKOHAMA, Japan - Photo shows a fully restyled Vitz compact car that Toyota Motor Corp. released on Dec. 22, 2010. One of the versions of the new Vitz, which is equipped with a stop-start engine control system, provides a fuel economy of 26.5 kilometers per liter.

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Police send papers to prosecutors on collision video leak case

KOBE, Japan - Masaharu Isshiki (C), an officer of the Kobe Coast Guard Office in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, leaves the office on Dec. 22, 2010. Tokyo police sent papers to prosecutors the same day on Isshiki who has admitted leaking diplomatically sensitive footage of collisions between Chinese and Japanese vessels near the disputed Senkaku Islands, leading to the officer's resignation.

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Fully-remodeled fuel-efficient Vitz compact car released

YOKOHAMA, Japan - Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda (L) announces the release of the fully restyled Vitz compact car in Yokohama on Dec. 22, 2010. One of the versions of the new Vitz, which is equipped with a stop-start engine control system, provides a fuel economy of 26.5 kilometers per liter.

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Panamanian freighter stranded in Fukushima

IWAKI, Japan - The Panamanian-registered freighter Sea Ace is stranded on a beach in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, on Dec. 22, 2010, possibly due to strong wind. No injuries have been reported among 15 crew members -- 11 Chinese and four Myanmar nationals -- on the 2,976-ton vessel.

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Crested ibises in China

YANGXIAN, China - A flock of wild crested ibises are seen flying in the early hours after dawn at Yangxian, Shaanxi Province, China, on Dec. 22, 2010. It is uncommon for such a large flock of the rare birds to be captured on camera.

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Year-end cleanup at Eiheiji

FUKUI, Japan - Monks dust a building wall at Eiheiji, a Buddhist temple, in Fukui Prefecture during an annual year-end cleanup event on Dec. 22, 2010.

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Declassified diplomatic documents

TOKYO, Japan - Photo taken on Dec. 22, 2010, at the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Diplomatic Record Office in Tokyo shows diplomatic documents declassified the same day. Some of the documents relate to a Japan-U.S. campaign to sway in 1968 the first public election for the head of the Ryukyu government, or Okinawa, then under U.S. rule.

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U.S. helipad construction site in Okinawa

NAHA, Japan - Workers blockade an area near a planned U.S. helipad construction site in a U.S. military training facility in Higashi village, Okinawa Prefecture, on Dec. 22, 2010, to prevent any obstruction of the construction of a new fence in the area the same day.

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U.S. helipad construction site in Okinawa

NAHA, Japan - Workers blockade an area near a planned U.S. helipad construction site in a U.S. military training facility in Higashi village, Okinawa Prefecture, in the early hours of Dec. 22, 2010, to prevent any obstruction of the construction of a new fence in the area the same day.

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Bird flu hits endangered cranes in Japan

IZUMI, Japan - Staff from a crane preservation group in protective suits feed cranes in Izumi, Kagoshima Prefecture, on Dec. 22, 2010, as flocks of cranes fly overhead. A hooded crane found in Japan's largest crane wintering place in the southwestern prefecture was confirmed as having been infected with an H5N1 strain of highly infectious avian influenza the previous day.

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Crested ibises in China

YANGXIAN, China - A flock of wild crested ibises are seen flying in the early hours after dawn at Yangxian, Shaanxi Province, China, on Dec. 22, 2010. It is uncommon for such a large flock of the rare birds to be captured on camera.

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Bird flu hits endangered cranes in Japan

IZUMI, Japan - Staff from a crane preservation group in protective suits feed cranes in Izumi, Kagoshima Prefecture, on Dec. 22, 2010. A hooded crane found in Japan's largest crane wintering place in the southwestern prefecture was confirmed as having been infected with an H5N1 strain of highly infectious avian influenza the previous day.

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Nagoya to cut local income tax by 10%

NAGOYA, Japan - Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura salutes citizens in the city's assembly room on Dec. 22, 2009, after the assembly enacts an ordinance sponsored by the outspoken leader to cut local taxes by 10 percent in fiscal 2010. Nagoya and Handa, both in Aichi Prefecture, are the first cities to pass ordinances for cuts in local income tax in the next fiscal year starting April.