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1995 Hanshin quake-surviving sauce put on sale

OSAKA, Japan - Products made from sauce condensate that survived the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake in western Japan are shown by Oliver Sauce Co. President Masahiko Doman in Kobe on Dec. 22, 2014. The sauce, marketed every five years since the disaster, is the last product from the original material.

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Tennis, soccer wear selling well in Japan

TOKYO, Japan - A tennis gear shop at Seibu Ikebukuro department store in Tokyo, shown in this photo taken on Dec. 22, 2014, is enjoying brisk sales thanks to pro tennis player Kei Nishikori's spectacular showing. Similarly, football shirts are selling well due to the World Cup finals in Brazil in 2014.

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Works of literary giant Ogai Mori's son to be exhibited

TOKYO, Japan - Tetsutaro Mori (R), a son of the late essayist Rui Mori, hands a list of some 6,000 works Rui wrote on the life of his father Ogai Mori, a literary great in the late 19th to early 20th centuries, to Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward Mayor Hironobu Narisawa on Dec. 22, 2014, ahead of their exhibition in March 2015 in the ward.

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Toyota to boost output of new pleasure boat

NAGOYA, Japan - The Ponam-31, a new pleasure boat produced by Toyota Motor Corp., is on display in front of Nagoya Station in Nagoya, central Japan, on Dec. 22, 2014. The biggest Japanese automaker, which released the luxury boat in October, has already decided on a 1.5-fold increase in its production from 15 units a year to meet strong demand.

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Couple sells bananas on street in Old Havana

HAVANA, Cuba - A couple sells bananas on a street in Old Havana on Dec. 22, 2014, amid moves between Cuba and the United States to normalize their severed relations.

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Cubans receive eggs at rationing station in Havana

HAVANA, Cuba - Citizens receive eggs at a state-run rationing station in Old Havana on Dec. 22, 2014. Expectations of a better life are growing among Cubans since the socialist country and the United States launched negotiations to normalize their severed relations.

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China against taking up N. Korean human rights issue at UNSC

NEW YORK, United States - China's United Nations Ambassador Liu Jieyi speaks to the U.N. Security Council on Dec. 22, 2014, in New York. China and Russia voted against taking up the North Korean human rights issue at the Security Council.

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Sheep-shaped clay bells manufactured in Sapporo

SAPPORO, Japan - Sheep-shaped clay bells are manufactured at a kiln in Hokkaido Shrine in Sapporo, Hokkaido, on Dec. 22, 2014. Some 6,000 bells will be prepared by the end of the year, as 2015 falls on the Year of the Sheep.

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U.N. Security Council debates N. Korea human rights

NEW YORK, United States - Delegates to the U.N. Security Council vote by a show of hands in New York on Dec. 22, 2014. The Security Council discussed human rights conditions in North Korea for the first time after voting to include the issue in its agenda.

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U.N. Security Council debates N. Korean human rights issue

NEW YORK, United States - Ivan Simonovic (C), U.N. assistant secretary general for human rights, reports on the North Korean human rights issue to the U.N. Security Council in New York on Dec. 22, 2014. The Security Council discussed human rights conditions in North Korea for the first time after voting to include the issue in its agenda.

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Nishikori earns top prize at annual pro sports awards

TOKYO, Japan - Professional tennis player Kei Nishikori appears in a video message at the Japan Pro Sports Awards in Tokyo on Dec. 22, 2014, after being named winner of the grand prize. Currently training in the United States, Nishikori said in the video, "This was a fulfilling year. I want to do my best so I can appear in more Grand Slam finals next year."

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China, Thailand agree to deepen relations

BEIJING, China - Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (L) and Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha attend a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Dec. 22, 2014, after agreeing to deepen bilateral relations on trade, railway construction and other matters. (Pool Photo)

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Messaging app provider LINE to replace its CEO

TOKYO, Japan - Smartphone messaging app operator LINE Corp. announces on Dec. 22, 2014, that its Chief Operating Officer Takeshi Idezawa will become the chief executive officer replacing Akira Morikawa for formalization at a general meeting of shareholders next March.

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Orix pitcher Kaneko wins outstanding performance prize

TOKYO, Japan - Orix Buffaloes pitcher Chihiro Kaneko speaks during a ceremony at the Japan Pro Sports Awards in Tokyo on Dec. 22, 2014, after receiving an Outstanding Performance Award. He has also been named this year's most valuable player of the Pacific League.

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Sumo wrestler Ichinojo named outstanding new performer

TOKYO, Japan - Sumo wrestler Ichinojo speaks during a ceremony at the Japan Pro Sports Awards in Tokyo on Dec. 22, 2014, after being named an outstanding rookie performer. He achieved promotion to sumo's third-highest rank of sekiwake following his debut in the elite Makuuchi Division in September and compiled a majority of wins in November to retain his sekiwake status.

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Yokozuna Hakuho wins outstanding performance prize

TOKYO, Japan - Sumo grand champion Hakuho speaks during a ceremony at the Japan Pro Sports Awards in Tokyo on Dec. 22, 2014, after receiving an Outstanding Performance Award. He won his 32nd career grand sumo tournament this year to equal the total championships of legendary yokozuna Taiho.

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Honda releases new N-series minivehicle

TOKYO, Japan - Japan's Honda Motor Co. rolls out the brand-new N-Box Slash minivehicle in Tokyo on Dec. 22, 2014.

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Narita airport users top 900 mil. since 1978

NARITA, Japan - A ceremony takes place at Narita airport east of Tokyo on Dec. 22, 2014, to mark the cumulative number of users of the international airport exceeding 900 million since its May 1978 opening.

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Accumulated total of Narita airport users reaches 900 mil.

NARITA, Japan - U.S. engineer James Collins (R) receives commemorative gifts from the operator of Narita International Airport east of Tokyo on Dec. 22, 2014, after becoming the 900 millionth user of the airport. Collins was returning to the United States following a business trip to Japan.

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Foreign visitors to Japan top 13 mil. for 1st time

NARITA, Japan - Japanese transport minister Akihiro Ota makes a speech at Narita airport east of Tokyo on Dec. 22, 2014, during a ceremony celebrating the first time the annual number of foreign passenger arrivals has surpassed 13 million.

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Transport minister hands gift to 13 millionth tourist

NARITA, Japan - Japan's transport minister Akihiro Ota (L) hands a commemorative gift at Narita airport east of Tokyo on Dec. 22, 2014, to a tourist from Indonesia who became the 13 millionth visitor to Japan this year.

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Abe vows to "steadily achieve" fiscal reform goal in FY 2015

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (C) attends a meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy on Dec. 22, 2014, in Tokyo. Abe said the government will "make every effort to steadily achieve" its fiscal rehabilitation goal in fiscal 2015, while promising to streamline public spending without exception.

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Panel proposes preservation of tsunami-hit school

ISHINOMAKI, Japan - File photo taken on Jan. 22, 2014, shows a classroom of Kadonowaki Elementary School in the northeastern Japan city of Ishinomaki that was hit by the March 2011 tsunami and fire. An expert panel proposed on Dec. 22, 2014, that the school building be preserved in its current state to hand down the legacy of the disaster.

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Cuban envoy in Japan eyes strengthening bilateral ties

TOKYO, Japan - Cuban Ambassador to Japan Marcos Rodriguez speaks in an interview at his embassy in Tokyo on Dec. 22, 2014, expressing hopes to strengthen economic and trade ties with Japan following Washington's sudden policy shift toward normalizing relations with Havana.

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Yomiuri Giants put 'Tokyo' back on uniform

TOKYO, Japan - Yomiuri Giants manager Tatsunori Hara (2nd from L) joins players of his team in showing off the Japanese professional baseball club's new uniforms in Tokyo on Dec. 22, 2014, with a version for away games sporting the word "TOKYO" across the chest for the first time in 13 seasons. The players posing with Hara are (from L) pitcher Yuki Koyama, catcher Seiji Kobayashi and infielder Daisuke Fujimura.

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Flash mob shows danger of smartphone use while walking

TOKYO, Japan - Members of a dancing group from Toyo University perform in a flash mob at Hitotsubashi University in the suburbs of Tokyo on Dec. 22, 2014, with smartphones in their hands to raise awareness about the danger of using them while walking.

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Haneda airport users top 70 million in 2014

TOKYO, Japan - Airline staff and other representatives attend a ceremony in Tokyo on Dec. 22, 2014, marking a new record of more than 70 million passengers passing through Haneda airport this year thanks largely to increased international flights and foreign visitors.

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Monkeys huddle around open fire to keep warm

INUYAMA, Japan - Monkeys huddle around an open fire to keep warm at Japan Monkey Center in the central Japan city of Inuyama on Dec. 22, 2014. It is a rare scene as animals usually fear fire.

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'Hida beef' exported from Nagoya airport for 1st time

NAGOYA, Japan - A cargo of the famous Hida beef from Gifu Prefecture is ready for loading onto an airplane bound for Bangkok, Thailand, at Chubu Centrair International Airport in Nagoya, central Japan, on Dec. 22, 2014. It was the first time the prized beef brand had been exported from the airport, which is much closer to Hida Takayama where beef cattle are raised than Fukuoka airport in southwestern Japan used previously.

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Monkeys huddle around open fire to keep warm

INUYAMA, Japan - Monkeys huddle around an open fire to keep warm at Japan Monkey Center in the central Japan city of Inuyama on Dec. 22, 2014. It is a rare scene as animals usually fear fire.

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Worker at Calbee's new Kobe outlet shows potato chips

OSAKA, Japan - A worker at Japanese snack food maker Calbee Inc.'s new outlet in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, shows freshly fried potato chips during a press preview on Dec. 22, 2014. The Calbee Plus Kobe Harborland umie store opened to the public on Dec. 24.

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Calbee shows new Kobe outlet to press

OSAKA, Japan - Japanese snack food maker Calbee Inc. shows its new outlet in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, to the press on Dec. 22, 2014. The Calbee Plus Kobe Harborland umie store opened to the public on Dec. 24.

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Lixil makes toilet bowl using 75,000 pieces of crystal glass

OSAKA, Japan - Japanese housing equipment maker Lixil Corp. displays a toilet bowl decorated by some 75,000 pieces of crystal glass, supplied by Swarovski AG of Austria, in Osaka on Dec. 22, 2014. The toilet bowl, which is not for sale, will be exhibited in Lixil's showroom in the Grand Front Osaka commercial complex until Jan. 6, 2015.

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Suzuki Motor releases all-new Alto minicar in Japan

TOKYO, Japan - Suzuki Motor Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Osamu Suzuki stands by the Japanese automaker's all-new eighth-generation Alto in Tokyo on Dec. 22, 2014, the launch date of the minivehicle in Japan.

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Panel calls for new university entrance tests

TOKYO, Japan - Japan's education minister Hakubun Shimomura (L) receives a proposal for a new university entrance test system from Yuichiro Anzai, chief of the Central Council for Education, on Dec. 22, 2014, at his ministry in Tokyo. Under the proposal, "evaluation" tests would be conducted multiple times a year so applicants can use the best results for their college entrance.

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Panel calls for new university entrance tests

TOKYO, Japan - Photo taken on Dec. 22, 2014, at Japan's education ministry in Tokyo shows a general meeting of the Central Council for Education. The panel proposed a new university entrance test system, under which "evaluation" tests would be conducted multiple times a year so applicants can use the best results for their college entrance.

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Kagawa dodges questions over Aguirre as he arrives back in Japan

TOKYO, Japan - Borussia Dortmund midfielder Shinji Kagawa signs autographs for fans after arriving at Tokyo's Haneda airport on Dec. 22, 2014. Kagawa refused to comment on the match-fixing scandal engulfing Japan coach Javier Aguirre when he was asked to do so by waiting reporters after arriving back in Japan to prepare for the Asian Cup.

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Sri Lankan man dies during detention at Tokyo immigration bureau

TOKYO, Japan - A 26-year-old man, a relative of a 57-year-old Sri Lankan man who died after reporting chest pain during detention at the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau on Nov. 22, 2014, holds a press conference in Tokyo on Dec. 1. The Provisional Release Association in Japan, a support group for foreigners, criticized the bureau for failing to conduct a medical check in response to his chest pain report, while the bureau defended its response as having had no problem.

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Chair of SDP in stump speech

KANAZAWA, Japan - Tadatomo Yoshida, chair of the opposition Social Democratic Party, makes a stump speech in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, central Japan, on Nov. 22, 2014, ahead of the Dec. 14 general election.

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Leader of DPJ makes speech ahead of election

FUKUOKA, Japan - Banri Kaieda, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, delivers a speech in a meeting with his DPJ chapter members in Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on Nov. 22, 2014, ahead of the Dec. 14 general election.

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Leader of Komeito in stump speech

HAMAMATSU, Japan - Natsuo Yamaguchi, leader of the Komeito party, which forms the ruling coalition with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party, makes a stump speech at JR Hamamatsu Station in central Shizuoka Prefecture on Nov. 22, 2014, ahead of the Dec. 14 general election.

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LDP secretary general makes speech ahead of election

KYOTO, Japan - Sadakazu Tanigaki, secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, delivers a speech in a meeting with LDP chapter members in Kyoto Prefecture, western Japan, on Nov. 22, 2014, ahead of the Dec. 14 general election.

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A month before Sochi Olympics

SOCHI, Russia - Russian supporters pose for a photo before an ice hockey friendly at the Olympic Park in Sochi, Russia, on Dec. 22, 2013. The Winter Games will be held in the Black Sea resort from Feb. 7 to 23, 2014.