Shinya Katanozaka (second from right), ANA Holdings president and CEO, poses with (from left) Philippine Airlines President and COO Jaime J. Bautista; LT Group President and PAL Holdings Director Michael G. Tan; and All Nippon Airways President and CEO Yuji Hirako during a ceremony announcing a business and capital partnership between ANA Holdings and PAL Holdings at the ANA Intercontinental Hotel Tokyo on Feb. 8. |  YOSHIAKI MIURA
Shinya Katanozaka (second from right), ANA Holdings president and CEO, poses with (from left) Philippine Airlines President and COO Jaime J. Bautista; LT Group President and PAL Holdings Director Michael G. Tan; and All Nippon Airways President and CEO Yuji Hirako during a ceremony announcing a business and capital partnership between ANA Holdings and PAL Holdings at the ANA Intercontinental Hotel Tokyo on Feb. 8. | YOSHIAKI MIURA


French Consul General Jean-Matthieu Bonnel (far left) attends a party with Australian Consul General David Lawson (center) and German Consul General Werner Kohler to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Kobe Consular Corps in Osaka on Feb. 1. Originally formed in Kobe after it opened to international trade in 1868, the Kansai Consular Corps now represents more than 50 countries. |  ERIC JOHNSTON
French Consul General Jean-Matthieu Bonnel (far left) attends a party with Australian Consul General David Lawson (center) and German Consul General Werner Kohler to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Kobe Consular Corps in Osaka on Feb. 1. Originally formed in Kobe after it opened to international trade in 1868, the Kansai Consular Corps now represents more than 50 countries. | ERIC JOHNSTON


Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasutoshi Nishimura (right) and Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Kenji Yamada (center) offer their congratulations to Iranian Ambassador Morteza Rahmani Movahed during a reception to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Iran's victory in the Islamic Revolution at the ambassador's residence on      Feb. 7. yoshiaki miura |
Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasutoshi Nishimura (right) and Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Kenji Yamada (center) offer their congratulations to Iranian Ambassador Morteza Rahmani Movahed during a reception to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Iran's victory in the Islamic Revolution at the ambassador's residence on Feb. 7. yoshiaki miura |


Japan's four gold medal laureates (from left) Francoise Morechand (Cultural Influence), Keiko Kishi (Cultural Influence), Akiko Santo (Solidarity and Value) and Hisanori Isomura (Francophone Value) pose during an awards ceremony hosted by La Renaissance Francaise, which was founded in 1916 to promote French culture, at the French ambassador's residence in Tokyo on Feb. 6. |  MIDORI HIRAHARA
Japan's four gold medal laureates (from left) Francoise Morechand (Cultural Influence), Keiko Kishi (Cultural Influence), Akiko Santo (Solidarity and Value) and Hisanori Isomura (Francophone Value) pose during an awards ceremony hosted by La Renaissance Francaise, which was founded in 1916 to promote French culture, at the French ambassador's residence in Tokyo on Feb. 6. | MIDORI HIRAHARA