Sake promotion group members, including Representative and former Director-General of the National Museum of Ethnology, Naomichi Ishige (center), raise their masuzake (square, wooden sake cups) before toasting to celebrate Oct. 1 as
Sake promotion group members, including Representative and former Director-General of the National Museum of Ethnology, Naomichi Ishige (center), raise their masuzake (square, wooden sake cups) before toasting to celebrate Oct. 1 as "Sake Day'' at Meiji Kinenkan in Tokyo. Nearly 50,000 people from across Japan, Australia, India, Korea, Malaysia and Vietnam joined in via video conference. | YOSHIAKI MIURA


German Ambassador Hans Carl von Werthern (second from right), and his wife, Elizabeth (second from left), join Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party and former Justice Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki (left) and former Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa (right), during a reception to celebrate the Day of German Unity at the ambassador's residence in Tokyo on Oct. 2. | YOSHIAKI MIURA
German Ambassador Hans Carl von Werthern (second from right), and his wife, Elizabeth (second from left), join Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party and former Justice Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki (left) and former Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa (right), during a reception to celebrate the Day of German Unity at the ambassador's residence in Tokyo on Oct. 2. | YOSHIAKI MIURA


Saudi Arabian Ambassador Ahmad Younos S. Al Barrak (left) welcomes Japan-Saudi Arabia Society Chairman Hiromasa Yonekura, during a reception to celebrate the country's 85th National Day at the Palace Hotel Tokyo on Sept. 29. | YOSHIAKI MIURA
Saudi Arabian Ambassador Ahmad Younos S. Al Barrak (left) welcomes Japan-Saudi Arabia Society Chairman Hiromasa Yonekura, during a reception to celebrate the country's 85th National Day at the Palace Hotel Tokyo on Sept. 29. | YOSHIAKI MIURA