Search｜Photos & Images & Videos｜KYODO NEWS IMAGES INC

Lawmaker Noda calls baby son 'mentor'

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese lawmaker Seiko Noda is interviewed by Kyodo News in Tokyo on Feb. 1, 2012, about the controversy over her childbearing at age 50 about a year ago. Noda, a six-term lower house legislator and a member of the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party, gave birth to her son Masaki in January 2011 through artificial insemination. She said Masaki is her ''mentor'' who trains her as a politician.

E

Lawmaker Noda calls baby son 'mentor'

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese lawmaker Seiko Noda is interviewed by Kyodo News in Tokyo on Feb. 1, 2012, about the controversy over her childbearing at age 50 about a year ago. Noda, a six-term lower house legislator and a member of the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party, gave birth to her son Masaki in January 2011 through artificial insemination. She said Masaki is her ''mentor'' who trains her as a politician.

E

New rails for disaster-hit railway company

NODA, Japan - Workers on Feb. 1, 2012, lay new railroad rails in the village of Noda, Iwate Prefecture, an area hit by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, as the work began the same day in the village. Sanriku Railway Co. aims at fully resuming its services in April 2014.

E

Toyota Aqua hybrid compact car

NAGOYA, Japan - Photo shows Toyota Motor Corp.'s Aqua hybrid compact car. The automaker said Feb. 1, 2012, the number of orders placed for the Aqua as of Jan. 31, 2012, was about 120,000, greatly exceeding its sales goal of 12,000 units a month. The car was released on Dec. 26, 2011.

E

Returning home for the lunar New Year

BEIJING, China - (From L to R) Chen Lei, a migrant worker in Beijing, his father Huacheng, another migrant worker, his mother Yang Xuanying and his brother Yang, also a migrant worker, shop for decorations for the lunar New Year, on Feb. 1, 2011, in Shihuazhen, Hubei Province. Chen returned home for the lunar New Year, the only time of the year his family is together.

E

Sandwich stand in Tahrir Square

CAIRO, Egypt - Men make sandwiches at a food stand in Tahrir Square in Cairo, where people are protesting against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, on Feb. 1, 2011.

E

Nippon Steel, Sumitomo Metal to merge

TOKYO, Japan - Nippon Steel Corp. President Shoji Muneoka (L center) and Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. President Hiroshi Tomono (R center) speak to reporters after a press conference in Tokyo on Feb. 3, 2011. The No. 1 and No. 3 steelmakers in Japan announced the same day their plan to merge by Oct. 1, 2012, to become the world's second-largest steelmaker in terms of crude steel production capacity.

E

Photo exhibition on Japan in Switzerland

LUGANO, Switzerland - Visitors look at photos capturing life in Japan around the end of the Edo period (1603-1867) and the early Meiji period (1868-1912) at an exhibition in Lugano, southern Switzerland, on Feb. 1, 2011. Some 200 photos at the exhibition, which runs through Feb. 27, include those taken by well-known photographers Felice Beato, Kimbe Kusakabe and others. The photos, which were originally black and white, were later hand-colored.

E

Photo exhibition on Japan in Switzerland

LUGANO, Switzerland - Photo showing life in Japan around the end of the Edo period (1603-1867) and the beginning of the Meiji period (1868-1912) is one of some 200 photos, many on public display for the first time, at an exhibition in Lugano, southern Switzerland, on Feb. 1, 2011. Photos at the exhibition, which runs through Feb. 27, include those taken by well-known photographers Felice Beato, Kimbe Kusakabe and others. The photos, which were originally black and white, were later hand-colored.

E

Photo exhibition on Japan in Switzerland

LUGANO, Switzerland - Photo showing life in Japan around the end of the Edo period (1603-1867) and the beginning of the Meiji period (1868-1912) is one of some 200 photos, many on public display for the first time, at an exhibition in Lugano, southern Switzerland, on Feb. 1, 2011. Photos at the exhibition, which runs through Feb. 27, include those taken by well-known photographers Felice Beato, Kimbe Kusakabe and others. The photos, which were originally black and white, were later hand-colored.

E

Photo exhibition on Japan in Switzerland

LUGANO, Switzerland - Photo showing life in Japan around the end of the Edo period (1603-1867) and the beginning of the Meiji period (1868-1912) is one of some 200 photos, many on public display for the first time, at an exhibition in Lugano, southern Switzerland, on Feb. 1, 2011. Photos at the exhibition, which runs through Feb. 27, include those taken by well-known photographers Felice Beato, Kimbe Kusakabe and others. The photos, which were originally black and white, were later hand-colored.

E

'Club Kanazawa' launched in N.Y. to promote city as new destination

NEW YORK, United States - New Yorkers try out sake from Kanazawa at a promotional event on Feb. 1, 2011 in Manhattan to drum up tourism to the Japanese city, which is rich in arts and crafts.

E

Mubarak not to seek reelection

TOKYO, Japan - In this April 1983 file photo, then Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone (L) and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (R) meet at the State Guest House in Tokyo's Minato Ward. Mubarak said Feb. 1, 2011, he will not seek reelection in the next presidential race, currently slated for September, but rejected calls for an immediate resignation.

E

North Koreans on ties with South

PYONGYANG, North Korea - Choe Gum Chol, a precision processing worker at the Pyongyang Textile Machine Plant, tells Kyodo News in Pyongyang on Feb. 1, 2011, ''Politicians in South Korea should not doubt our proposal and come to the venue of dialogue as soon as possible.''

E

Mubarak not to seek reelection

TOKYO, Japan - In this April 1999 file photo, Japanese Emperor Akihito (R), and his wife, Empress Michiko (2nd from L), welcome Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (C) and his wife Suzanne (L) at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. Mubarak said Feb. 1, 2011, he will not seek reelection in the next presidential race, currently slated for September, but rejected calls for an immediate resignation.

E

Game with pirated illustrations

NAGOYA, Japan - Photo shows an iPhone displaying a game using pirated illustrations from popular Japanese comic series ''One Piece.'' Shueisha Inc., the publisher of the series, has urged Apple Inc. to stop selling puzzle video games using pirated illustrations from the comic on its online App Store, sources familiar with the matter said Feb. 1, 2011.

E

North Koreans on ties with South

PYONGYANG, North Korea - Ri Nam Jung, a North Korean government official in charge of production of food and daily necessities, tells Kyodo News in Pyongyang on Feb. 1, 2011, that North Korea has made ''positive efforts'' to realize talks with South Korea, but the South does not appear responsive to ''our our serious proposal'' for dialogue.

E

Daiwa Securities new president

TOKYO, Japan - Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Shigeharu Suzuki (L) and Deputy President Takashi Hibino shake hands as they attend a press conference in Tokyo on Feb. 1, 2011. The company said it will promote Hibino to president on April 1, 2011, replacing Suzuki, who will become chairman.

E

Daiwa Securities new president

TOKYO, Japan - Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Deputy President Takashi Hibino (R) speaks in a press conference in Tokyo on Feb. 1, 2011. The company said it will promote Hibino to president on April 1, 2011, replacing Shigeharu Suzuki (L), who will become chairman.

E

Volcanic eruptions in southwestern Japan

KIRISHIMA, Japan - Volcanic smoke billows from Shinmoe Peak in the Kirishima mountain range, as seen from Kirishima, Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on Feb. 1, 2011. The mountain erupted the same day for the fourth time since Jan. 26.

E

Heart-shaped oysters

SASEBO, Japan - A woman holds farmed oysters with heart-shaped shells in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, on Feb. 1, 2011. A local fisheries cooperative announced the same day that it has begun producing them.

E

Nippon Life's new president

TOKYO, Japan - Nippon Life Insurance Co. President Kunie Okamoto (L) and Senior Managing Executive Officer Yoshinobu Tsutsui shake hands as they attended a press conference in Tokyo on Feb. 1, 2011. The company said it has decided to name Tsutsui as new president on April 1, 2011, succeeding Okamoto, who will become chairman.

E

Nippon Life's new president

TOKYO, Japan - Nippon Life Insurance Co. Senior Managing Executive Officer Yoshinobu Tsutsui speaks at a press conference in Tokyo on Feb. 1, 2011. The company said it has decided to name him as new president on April 1, 2011.

E

U.S. venture assigns iPSC patent estate to Kyoto Univ.

KYOTO, Japan - Kyoto University professor Shinya Yamanaka, who has developed induced pluripotent stem cell, or iPSC, technologies, speaks at a press conference in Kyoto on Feb. 1, 2011, after U.S. venture iPierian Inc. assigned its patent estate for iPSCs to Kyoto University in a bid to avoid a dispute with Yamanaka.

E

Baseball spring training

KUMEJIMA, Japan - Members of Rakuten Eagles including manager Senichi Hoshino (C, front) pose for photos in the town of Kumejima on Kume Island, Okinawa Prefecture, on Feb.1, 2011, the opening day of their spring training.

E

Fatal fall from Tokyo roller coaster

TOKYO, Japan - Tokyo Dome Corp. President Shinji Kushiro (L) bows during a press conference in Tokyo on Feb. 1, 2011, following the death of a man who fell from a roller coaster at the company's Tokyo Dome City Attractions amusement park.

E

Mandarin ducks resting

YONAGO, Japan - Mandarin ducks rest on a riverside in the town of Hino in Tottori Prefecture, western Japan, on Feb. 1, 2011. The orange feathers of the male ducks are at their brightest in the early part of the year. Around one thousand Mandarin ducks were spotted the same day on and around the Hino River, where they spend the winter before flying north.

E

Honda's Fit Hybrid beats Toyota Prius in sales

TOKYO, Japan - File photo shows Honda Motor Co.'s Fit Hybrid subcompact car, the least expensive hybrid vehicle in Japan. Reports on Feb. 1, 2011, said the model was the top seller in Japan's passenger car market in January, beating sales of Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius hybrid, which had been the frontrunner for 20 months.

E

Honda's Fit Hybrid beats Toyota Prius in sales

TOKYO, Japan - File photo shows Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius hybrid, which according to reports on Feb. 1, 2011, lost top spot in Japan's passenger car market in January to Honda Motor Co.'s less expensive Fit Hybrid subcompact car.

E

Volcanic eruptions in southwestern Japan

KIRISHIMA, Japan - Glass at the entrance of a local government building in the city of Kirishima in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, is seen broken due to air pressure from the eruptions of Shinmoe Peak in the Kirishima mountain range on Feb. 1, 2011.

E

Police raid Tokyo Dome over roller coaster death

TOKYO, Japan - Members of the Metropolitan Police Department investigate the site of a deadly accident at Tokyo Dome City Attractions on Feb. 1, 2011. Police are investigating if the park operator failed to take adequate safety measures, causing a man to fall from a moving roller coaster and die on Jan. 30.

E

'Lucky-bean' scattering

OSAKA, Japan - Osaka Mayor Kunio Hiramatsu (R in the back) and young women throw peanuts from the 100-meter-high observatory of Tsutenkaku Tower in Osaka in the annual ''lucky-bean scattering'' on Feb. 1, 2011. Japanese people throw beans in a traditional ceremony to drive demons away and invite luck around the Feb. 3 Setsubun day, which divides winter and spring on the calendar.

E

Kawasaki's W800

TOKYO, Japan - Photo shows Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd.'s W800 motorcycle with a 4-stroke vertical twin engine. The company is scheduled to start selling the new model in Japan from Feb. 1, 2011.

E

M'bishi Electric talking rice cookers

TOKYO, Japan - Photo shows the NJ-XSB10J (R) and NJ-XWB10J (others) rice cookers that Mitsubishi Electric Corp. will put on sale in Japan on Feb. 1, 2011. The models without a steam outlet have a voice guidance function telling users how to make settings and when the rice will be cooked.