Your Party takes big leap in Japan election

Your Party takes big leap in Japan election

TOKYO, Japan - Yoshimi Watanabe (R), head of the small opposition Your Party, celebrates after his party secures several seats in the House of Councillors election at a hotel in Tokyo on July 11, 2010. Prior to the election, Watanabe's party, launched in 2009, only had one seat in the upper chamber.

Hirayama's unfinished work unveiled

Hirayama's unfinished work unveiled

KAMAKURA, Japan - Michiko Hirayama (L), wife of the late Japanese painter Ikuo Hirayama, and their daughter Yayoi unveil Hirayama's unfinished work at his atelier in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Feb. 11, 2010. Hirayama, whose photo is being held by Michiko, passed away Dec. 2, 2009, and had been working on the painting from last July to September from his hospital bed.

Children play at Akune seashore

Children play at Akune seashore

FUKUOKA, Japan - Young children enjoy a summer day before sunset on the seashore in Akune in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on July 11, 2009.

Diver catches sea urchins to save seaweed

Diver catches sea urchins to save seaweed

FUKUOKA, Japan - A diver gathers sea urchins on July 11, 2009, on the seabed where most seaweed was eaten up by the animal off Akune in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan. The seaweed colony is on the verge of shrinking as sea urchins eat the plant more hungrily than in the past in the jeopardized marine ecosystem.

Fisherman processes sea urchins

Fisherman processes sea urchins

FUKUOKA, Japan - Veteran fisherman Katsumi Hamasaki separates the shell of a sea urchin from its flesh on July 11, 2009. The shells of sea urchins, caught in the sea off the coast of Akune in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, are sent to a research institution for reuse of ingredients such as calcium.