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Japan to nominate Hikone Castle for 2028 World Heritage listing

Japan to nominate Hikone Castle for 2028 World Heritage listing

Hikone Mayor Issei Tajima (front row, 4th from L) celebrates with the western Japan city's popular mascot Hikonyan at the city government headquarters in Shiga Prefecture on Sept. 3, 2026, after a Japanese government council selected Hikone Castle, a national treasure, as a candidate for nomination for the 2028 UNESCO World Heritage list.

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Japan to nominate Hikone Castle for 2028 World Heritage listing

Japan to nominate Hikone Castle for 2028 World Heritage listing

File photo taken in May 2025 shows Hikone Castle in Hikone in Shiga Prefecture, western Japan. Japan on Sept. 3, 2026, selected the castle, a national treasure, as a candidate for nomination for the 2028 UNESCO World Heritage list.

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Japan to nominate Hikone Castle for 2028 World Heritage listing

Japan to nominate Hikone Castle for 2028 World Heritage listing

People visit Hikone Castle in Hikone in Shiga Prefecture, western Japan, on Sept. 3, 2026. Japan the same day selected the castle, a national treasure, as a candidate for nomination for the 2028 UNESCO World Heritage list.

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Japan to nominate Hikone Castle for 2028 World Heritage listing

Japan to nominate Hikone Castle for 2028 World Heritage listing

File photo taken in May 2025 shows Hikone Castle in Hikone in Shiga Prefecture, western Japan. Japan on Sept. 3, 2026, selected the castle, a national treasure, as a candidate for nomination for the 2028 UNESCO World Heritage list.

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Japan to nominate Hikone Castle for 2028 World Heritage listing

Japan to nominate Hikone Castle for 2028 World Heritage listing

File photo taken in May 2025 shows Hikone Castle in Hikone in Shiga Prefecture, western Japan. Japan on Sept. 3, 2026, selected the castle, a national treasure, as a candidate for nomination for the 2028 UNESCO World Heritage list.

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US: Tornado-Warned Supercell Storm Sweeps Across Western New York

A tornado-warned storm produced a dramatic shelf cloud over Oakfield, New York, on the evening of September 2, as the storm system swept across Western New York. This video shows a dark, layered shelf cloud stretching across the horizon as the storm approaches over open fields.

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New York event to pitch made-in-Tottori sake

New York event to pitch made-in-Tottori sake

Shinji Hirai (L), governor of Japan's Tottori Prefecture, serves Japanese sake to a visitor during an event to promote sake made in the western Japan prefecture, held in New York's Brooklyn on Sept. 2, 2026.

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[Breaking News]USJ eyes park expansion

OSAKA, Japan, Aug. 28 Kyodo - Video taken on Aug. 28, 2026, from a Kyodo News helicopter shows Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, western Japan. The operator of the USJ is considering acquiring an additional 60,000-square-meter lot, the former site of a Nippon Steel Corp. plant (back), to expand the theme park amid booming inbound tourism. (Kyodo)

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Vietnamese ambassador to United Nations in Hiroshima

Vietnamese ambassador to United Nations in Hiroshima

Vietnamese Ambassador to the United Nations Do Hung Viet (L) holds talks with Hiroshima Gov. Mika Yokota at the prefectural government headquarters in the western Japan city on Sept. 1, 2026. The ambassador presided over the 2026 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in New York in April through May.

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Vietnamese ambassador to United Nations in Hiroshima

Vietnamese ambassador to United Nations in Hiroshima

Vietnamese Ambassador to the United Nations Do Hung Viet (L) holds talks with Hiroshima Gov. Mika Yokota (R) at the prefectural government headquarters in the western Japan city on Sept. 1, 2026. The ambassador presided over the 2026 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in New York in April through May.

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Dolphin hunt season begins in western Japan town

Dolphin hunt season begins in western Japan town

Fishing boats leave a port in the town of Taiji in Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, on Sept. 1, 2026, for the season's first drive-hunting of dolphins and small whales.

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Dolphin hunt season begins in western Japan town

Dolphin hunt season begins in western Japan town

The season's first drive-hunting of dolphins and small whales begins off the town of Taiji in Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, on Sept. 1, 2026.

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Dolphin hunt season begins in western Japan town

Dolphin hunt season begins in western Japan town

The season's first drive-hunting of dolphins and small whales begins off the town of Taiji in Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, on Sept. 1, 2026.

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Polar bear treat at Osaka zoo

Polar bear treat at Osaka zoo

A polar bear at Tennoji Zoo in the western Japan city of Osaka is given an ice block containing apples, her favorite fruit, to cool down amid summer heat on Aug. 29, 2026.

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Polar bear treat at Osaka zoo

Polar bear treat at Osaka zoo

A polar bear at Tennoji Zoo in the western Japan city of Osaka is given an ice block containing apples, her favorite fruit, to cool down amid summer heat on Aug. 29, 2026.

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Polar bear treat at Osaka zoo

Polar bear treat at Osaka zoo

A polar bear at Tennoji Zoo in the western Japan city of Osaka is given an ice block containing apples, her favorite fruit, to cool down amid summer heat on Aug. 29, 2026.

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USJ eyes park expansion

USJ eyes park expansion

Photo taken on Aug. 28, 2026, from a Kyodo News helicopter shows Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, western Japan. The operator of the USJ is considering acquiring an additional 60,000-square-meter lot, the former site of a Nippon Steel Corp. plant (back), to expand the theme park amid booming inbound tourism.

  •  
USJ eyes park expansion

USJ eyes park expansion

Photo taken on Aug. 28, 2026, from a Kyodo News helicopter shows Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, western Japan. The operator of the USJ is considering acquiring an additional 60,000-square-meter lot, the former site of a Nippon Steel Corp. plant (L), to expand the theme park amid booming inbound tourism.

  •  
USJ eyes park expansion

USJ eyes park expansion

Photo taken on Aug. 28, 2026, from a Kyodo News helicopter shows Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, western Japan. The operator of the USJ is considering acquiring an additional 60,000-square-meter lot, the former site of a Nippon Steel Corp. plant (front), to expand the theme park amid booming inbound tourism.

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[Breaking News]Japanese Justice Minister Hiraguchi after execution

TOKYO, Japan, Aug. 21 Kyodo - Japanese Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi holds a press conference at the ministry in Tokyo on Aug. 21, 2026, after the country hanged Sunao Takami, who was convicted of killing five people in an arson attack on a pachinko parlor in the western Japanese city of Osaka in 2009. (Kyodo)

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Japan: Emergency Alerts Sound in Tokyo as Magnitude 5.9 Quake Hits

Alerts sounded across Tokyo as a magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck eastern Japan, including the Greater Tokyo Area, early Sunday, August 23. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the quake occurred around 2:00 a.m. with an epicenter in southern Ibaraki Prefecture, at a depth of 70 kilometers.

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Baseball: National high school championship

Baseball: National high school championship

Chiben Wakayama High School baseball club players celebrate winning the summer national high school championship title on Aug. 22, 2026, at Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya in the western Japan prefecture of Hyogo.

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Baseball: National high school championship

Baseball: National high school championship

Chiben Wakayama High School baseball club players celebrate winning the summer national high school championship title on Aug. 22, 2026, at Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya in the western Japan prefecture of Hyogo.

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Water lilies in western Japan

Water lilies in western Japan

Water lilies bloom in a garden named Jardin de Monet Marmottan au Village de Kitagawa on Aug. 21, 2026, in Kitagawa in Kochi Prefecture. The garden in the western Japan village is modeled after painter Claude Monet's garden in Giverny, France.

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Princess Aiko in Shiga Pref.

Princess Aiko in Shiga Pref.

Japanese Princess Aiko meets with firefighters at a disaster-prevention center in Ryuo in Shiga Prefecture, western Japan, on Aug. 21, 2026. (Pool photo)

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Princess Aiko in Shiga Pref.

Princess Aiko in Shiga Pref.

Japanese Princess Aiko meets with firefighters at a disaster-prevention center in Ryuo in Shiga Prefecture, western Japan, on Aug. 21, 2026. (Pool photo)

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Princess Aiko in Shiga Pref.

Princess Aiko in Shiga Pref.

Japanese Princess Aiko waves upon arriving at a disaster-prevention center in Ryuo in Shiga Prefecture, western Japan, on Aug. 21, 2026. (Pool photo)

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Princess Aiko in Shiga Pref.

Princess Aiko in Shiga Pref.

Japanese Princess Aiko (2nd from R) watches a resident playing boccia at a medical and welfare home in Maibara in Shiga Prefecture, western Japan, on Aug. 21, 2026. (Pool photo)

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Princess Aiko in Shiga Pref.

Princess Aiko in Shiga Pref.

Japanese Princess Aiko (2nd from R) watches a resident playing boccia at a medical and welfare home in Maibara in Shiga Prefecture, western Japan, on Aug. 21, 2026. (Pool photo)

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Princess Aiko in Shiga Pref.

Princess Aiko in Shiga Pref.

Japanese Princess Aiko watches a resident undergoing rehabilitation at a medical and welfare home in Maibara in Shiga Prefecture, western Japan, on Aug. 21, 2026. (Pool photo)

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Princess Aiko in Shiga Pref.

Princess Aiko in Shiga Pref.

Japanese Princess Aiko plays boccia at a medical and welfare home in Maibara in Shiga Prefecture, western Japan, on Aug. 21, 2026. (Pool photo)

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Princess Aiko in Shiga Pref.

Princess Aiko in Shiga Pref.

Japanese Princess Aiko plays boccia at a medical and welfare home in Maibara in Shiga Prefecture, western Japan, on Aug. 21, 2026. (Pool photo)

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Princess Aiko in Shiga Pref.

Princess Aiko in Shiga Pref.

Japanese Princess Aiko (C) is briefed about giant Lake Biwa catfish during a visit to Lake Biwa Museum in Kusatsu in Shiga Prefecture, western Japan, on Aug. 21, 2026. (Pool photo)

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Princess Aiko in Shiga Pref.

Princess Aiko in Shiga Pref.

Japanese Princess Aiko (L) visits Lake Biwa Museum in Kusatsu in Shiga Prefecture, western Japan, on Aug. 21, 2026. (Pool photo)

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Princess Aiko in Shiga Pref.

Princess Aiko in Shiga Pref.

Japanese Princess Aiko (2nd from L) is briefed about giant Lake Biwa catfish during a visit to Lake Biwa Museum in Kusatsu in Shiga Prefecture, western Japan, on Aug. 21, 2026. (Pool photo)

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Princess Aiko in Shiga Pref.

Princess Aiko in Shiga Pref.

Japanese Princess Aiko (L) visits Lake Biwa Museum in Kusatsu in Shiga Prefecture, western Japan, on Aug. 21, 2026. (Pool photo)

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Passenger-assisting avatar robot at Hiroshima airport

Passenger-assisting avatar robot at Hiroshima airport

Photo taken on Aug. 21, 2026, at Hiroshima airport in Mihara in Hiroshima Prefecture, western Japan, shows an avatar robot named "newme," developed by an All Nippon Airways group company, assisting a man posing as a passenger with check-in and other procedures. The robot is operated remotely by staff at Kansai airport in Osaka Prefecture.

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Blue water lilies in western Japan

Blue water lilies in western Japan

Blue water lilies bloom in a garden named Jardin de Monet Marmottan au Village de Kitagawa on Aug. 21, 2026, in Kitagawa in Kochi Prefecture. The garden in the western Japan village is modeled after painter Claude Monet's garden in Giverny, France.

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Blue water lilies in western Japan

Blue water lilies in western Japan

Blue water lilies bloom in a garden named Jardin de Monet Marmottan au Village de Kitagawa on Aug. 21, 2026, in Kitagawa in Kochi Prefecture. The garden in the western Japan village is modeled after painter Claude Monet's garden in Giverny, France.

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Japanese Justice Minister Hiraguchi after execution

Japanese Justice Minister Hiraguchi after execution

Japanese Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi is pictured before holding a press conference at the ministry in Tokyo on Aug. 21, 2026. Earlier in the day, Japan hanged Sunao Takami, who was convicted of killing five people in an arson attack on a pachinko parlor in the western Japanese city of Osaka in 2009.

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Japanese Justice Minister Hiraguchi after execution

Japanese Justice Minister Hiraguchi after execution

Japanese Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi holds a press conference at the ministry in Tokyo on Aug. 21, 2026, after the country hanged Sunao Takami, who was convicted of killing five people in an arson attack on a pachinko parlor in the western Japanese city of Osaka in 2009.

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Japanese Justice Minister Hiraguchi after execution

Japanese Justice Minister Hiraguchi after execution

Japanese Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi holds a press conference at the ministry in Tokyo on Aug. 21, 2026, after the country hanged Sunao Takami, who was convicted of killing five people in an arson attack on a pachinko parlor in the western Japanese city of Osaka in 2009.

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Japanese Justice Minister Hiraguchi after execution

Japanese Justice Minister Hiraguchi after execution

Japanese Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi holds a press conference at the ministry in Tokyo on Aug. 21, 2026, after the country hanged Sunao Takami, who was convicted of killing five people in an arson attack on a pachinko parlor in the western Japanese city of Osaka in 2009.

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Japanese Justice Minister Hiraguchi after execution

Japanese Justice Minister Hiraguchi after execution

Japanese Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi holds a press conference at the ministry in Tokyo on Aug. 21, 2026, after the country hanged Sunao Takami, who was convicted of killing five people in an arson attack on a pachinko parlor in the western Japanese city of Osaka in 2009.

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Japanese Justice Minister Hiraguchi after execution

Japanese Justice Minister Hiraguchi after execution

Japanese Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi holds a press conference at the ministry in Tokyo on Aug. 21, 2026, after the country hanged Sunao Takami, who was convicted of killing five people in an arson attack on a pachinko parlor in the western Japanese city of Osaka in 2009.

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Asian Games: Torch-lighting ceremony

Asian Games: Torch-lighting ceremony

Aichi Gov. Hideaki Omura (C) poses for a photo during a torch-lighting ceremony for the Asian Games at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, western Japan, on Aug. 20, 2026. The Sept. 19-Oct. 4 games will mainly be held in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan.

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Asian Games: Torch-lighting ceremony

Asian Games: Torch-lighting ceremony

Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui (L) transfers the flame after lighting the torch for the Asian Games at the "flame of peace" at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, western Japan, to Japan men's football team head coach Hajime Moriyasu on Aug. 20, 2026. The Sept. 19-Oct. 4 games will mainly be held in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan.

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Asian Games: Torch-lighting ceremony

Asian Games: Torch-lighting ceremony

Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui (L) transfers the flame after lighting the torch for the Asian Games at the "flame of peace" at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, western Japan, to Japan men's football team head coach Hajime Moriyasu on Aug. 20, 2026. The Sept. 19-Oct. 4 games will mainly be held in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan.

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Asian Games: Torch-lighting ceremony

Asian Games: Torch-lighting ceremony

Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui lights the torch for the Asian Games at the "flame of peace" at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, western Japan, on Aug. 20, 2026, ahead of the Sept. 19-Oct. 4 games that will mainly be held in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan.

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Asian Games: Torch-lighting ceremony

Asian Games: Torch-lighting ceremony

Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui lights the torch for the Asian Games at the "flame of peace" at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, western Japan, on Aug. 20, 2026, ahead of the Sept. 19-Oct. 4 games that will mainly be held in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan.

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