Yukihiro Fukuda / Male Japanese giant salamander (Andria japonicus) emerging from a nest hole in order to breathe, Japan, August

Konrad Wothe / Japanese Macaque (Macaca fuscata) grooming young in snow, Japanese Alps, Japan

Sue Flood / Bamboo forest, Shikoku Mura open air museum, Takamatsu, Shikoku Island, Japan, May

Doug Perrine / Flower Hat Jelly / Jellyfish (Olindias formosa), a rare hydromedusa with fluorescent tentacle tips. Endemic to Brazil, Argentina, and southern Japan.

Nature Production / Japanese tree frog (Hyla japonica) hanging from Pumpkin flower, Japan

Nature Production / Aerial view of rice paddy fields (Oryza sativa) fixed-point observation of seasonal changes, ploughed fields in early winter, Shiga, Japan, November, sequence 7/8

Nature Production / Aerial view of rice paddy fields (Oryza sativa) fixed-point observation of seasonal changes, summer, Shiga, Japan, early August, sequence 4/8

Nature Production / Japanese tree frog (Hyla japonica) climbing up onto hydrangea leaf, Fukuoka, Japan, August, sequence 1/3

Hiroya Minakuchi / Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus) calf swimming near water surface, Ogasawara Island, Japan

Mitsuaki Iwago / Japanese Macaque (Macaca fuscata) mother grooming young, Jigokudani, Japan

Aflo / Two Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) sleeping with awake baby, in snow, Jigokudani, Nagano, Japan

Aflo / ic-09606 Whooper swans flying and on water {Cygnus cygnus} Hokkaido, Japan.