welcome to "newsline." it's monday, september 12th, 8:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. a moment of silence was observed across japan on sunday to mark the half year anniversary of the march 11th disaster. at 2:46. p.m., the exact time the earthquake struck, people bowed in remembrance of the victims.

>> in miyagi prefecture, the 71-year-old mother of a town employee who died that day offered bundles of origami paper cranes in honor of her son. >> translator: i had prayed for quick recovery of my son's body. now i just want to convey my gratitude to him. i want to pull myself up little by little which i think my son would have hoped for. >> a city in iwate prefecture suffered more than 1500 deaths. people who lost family members attended a meeting at the buddhist temple.

>> translator: wounds in my heart have not healed for the past six months. but i am trying to resolve my feelings at every opportunity to make a new start. >> a survey has found that over 70% of the municipalities hit hardest by the earthquake and tsunami feel reconstruction work is making little or no progress even six months after the disaster. nhk conducted a survey from late august to early september covering 42 municipalities in iwa iwate, miyagi, and fukushima prefectur prefectures. 14 municipalities say reconstruction efforts are making no progress while 17 said such work is making progress but slowing down. regarding the central government's efforts, 22 municipalities say they're not complete happy while four say

they are unhappy. that means 64% of the municipalities are not satisfied with the state's measures. they also asked what they expect from the central government. 41 replied not securing enough funding. 33 said speedy decisions on policies and they are the implementation. also asked municipalities in fukushima what they should expect the government to do. 12 said expanding areas to be decontaminated by the government while eight wanted thorough health checkups for residents. the nuclear crisis at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant is far from over. the government recently released a map that shows how far radioactive contamination has spread from the disabled nuclear power plant.

in some areas, the level of radioactive exceeds that under which people living near the chernobyl in ukraine were told to relocate after the disaster. one of those is minimosoma city. >> reporter: i am at a junior high school in minimosoma city. this is one of the areas still home to about 40 people. as i drove around the city, i could see more shops are opened. and even the supermarket has resumed business. however, i also noticed that there are not many children in the streets. some of the schools are still

closed. according to the latest city survey, 50% of junior high school student have returned. the city sees that the key to bringing back children is to reduce radioactive contamination. last month they started cleaning 90 schools and kindergartens. their aim is to limit the accumulated external contamination. this is the policy by the central government. but to meet the target, you have to monitor of the radiation. and you are expected to repeat the decontamination processes such as removing topsoil several times and spraying water. >> translator: i want to return home as soon as possible. >> i'll be able to say the town

is recovering only when our children return. >> reporter: however, the noda new government has given no instruction so far on what to do with contaminated waste. the volume of waste will increase as the process goes on. but for the moment there's no safe storage. and this is a pressing issue. the government needs to come up with a concrete plan as soon as possible. when the new prime minister took office, he said that there would be no revival of japan without the revival of fukushima. it remains to be seen. nhk world. high levels of radiation have been making life difficult for residents in fukushima. they're also slowing search operations. more than 200 people are still

missing in this prefecture six months after the march 11 disaster. we spoke to the chief of the fukushima prefectural police about the challenges his officers face. >> it was the first time of all the japanese police to operate in radioactive environment. and actually we didn't have any substantial standard operating procedure for such contingencies. >> reporter: because of high radioactivity levels, it wasn't until april that police were able to conduct their first full scale searches for missing persons within ten kilometers of the nuclear plant. that was nearly one month since the march 11 disaster. >> the tohoku people wanted to search for they loved ones themselves. but because of the level of radioactivities and because of the lack of equipment or many

other things, they couldn't go. so we decided that we have to go on their behalf. >> reporter: with debris from the tsunami still littering the area, the job is not easy. they have to wear protective gear and constantly watch radiation levels. matsumoto has led many drills himself. >> we had to wear protective suits which are airtight. and that kind of hinders the movement. also goggles become foggy and it becomes hard to breathe. we have to work in a different environment. >> reporter: ten years ago when the 9/11 terrorist attacks took place, matsumoto was in charge of intelligence at the former defense agency. although he is an expert in

crisis management, matsumoto admitted that it was difficult to anticipate an incident that in terms of scale and devastation was one of the worst nuclear disasters ever. >> we tend to neglect those risks but i believe that we to use our imagination to think about such a rare but major risk and prepare for such contingency. prime minister yoshihiko noda will appoint a new economy, trade, and industry minister who will also be involved of nuclear crisis compensation on monday. the move follows saturday's abrupt resignation of hachito. noda apologized for his resignation.

noda reiterated that there will be no revival of japan without the revival of fukushima. he added that the new minister must be able to be immediately effective because the ministry deals with restarted idled nuclear power plants and reviewing japan's energy policy. before his resignation former minister visited areas around fukushima daiichi and described the area as a city of death. he also joked with journalists saying some dirt he got on his sleeve may be radioactive. "the road ahead." today we'll show how the accident at the fukushima daiichi power plant is stranging this country's energy policy. >> let's start off by talking about how energy in this country

is being started. >> yes michio. japan's reliance on nuclear power has been growing since the 1970s. and right now atomic energy accounts for about 30% of our total power generation. and most of the rest comes from oil and coal and natural gas. here's a look at how nuclear energy has become a vital source in japan. >> reporter: japan is the only country in the world to have suffered from the atomic bombings by the united states. but after the u.s. announced it will use nuclear technology by peaceful purposes, japan also launched its own research on nuclear power generation. in 1966, japan's first commercial nuclear reactor became operatal. as a resource-poor country nuclear power was seen as an ideal source of energy. far long time fossil fuel was the dominant source of energy in japan. but the oil crisis in is the

1970s triggered the rapid construction of nuclear power plants. by 2009, the number of plants in japan reached 54. it is the third largest number in the world after the u.s. and france. however, nuclear energy suffered z a big setback as a result of the accidents at three mile island in the u.s. in 1979 and at chernobyl in the former soviet union in 1986. meanwhile, as global concerns about climate change have increased in recent years, the demand for nuclear stations has expanded worldwide. people began to see nuclear energy as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. it was a great opportunity for the japanese government to promote japan's own nuclear technology. last year they decided to sell nuclear reactors to vietnam. then the nuclear accident occurred.

>> last year japan's energy plan called for nuclear power generation to be expanded. the goal was to make it the source of 50% of our total power supply by 2030. but following the fukushima daiichi accident, the japanese government decided to gradually decrease the country's dependence on nuclear energy. last month the diet passed a clean energy bill that guarantees above-market rates for wind, solar, and geothermal power. it allows companies to buy up those renewable sources. and similar so-called feed and tariff legislation -- in countries such as germany and spain. japan's new law has raise ed expectations that new business opportunities will soon arise here too. >> reporter: last year these seven turbines started spinning

off ibraki prefecture. it's japan's first offshore wind power venture. and it's about to get a lot bigger. offshore and wind power generation is a wise generation for japan because space here is limited. the people running the operate behind me are planning to add 100 more turbines to this wind farm over the next few years. their setup seems to be strong enough to deal with japan's seismic shifts. the march 11 quake and tsunami didn't damage these turbines. they are built deep into the bottom of the sea. this is the president of the company that runs this wind power project. he's been in the green energy business for 13 years. he believes that the new feed and tariff law on renewable

sources will provide a boost. >> translator: the law is certainly beneficial for renewable energy generators like us 37 i am already planning on building more offshore wind farms in the near future. >> reporter: japan's solar relate ed power businesses are getting busier. they are connected at the university of tokyo. they're essentially long bars housed in dishes that move to follow the sun. mirrors help expand the exposure to sunlight. the new model generates a steady level of electricity from sun up to sun down. it can generate more than 1.5 times than conventional panels.

>> translator: in the beginning we wanted to support solar power to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. japan is now facing an energy shortage. we want to start mass production so our technology will help solve these problems. >> reporter: they built their factory in osaki. the company is projecting sales will reach $260 million by as early as 2015. >> so companies in green energy businesses are hoping to benefit from japan's shift away from if nuclear energy. what kind of opportunity are we looking at here? >> looks like we have problems to solve. some say the law is just the basic ground rule and won't

accelerate the use all by itself. >> i think this is very good starting point for the development of the future of renewable energy sources in japan. and so far the european market which has been already stabilized in the 90s, the japanese energy market is still not mobilized. >> the professor says deregulation would loosen the tight grip japan's nine regional companies have on the energy market. they control both power generation and the power grid in each region. the professor said these monopolies can harm the energy. this is one big issue the new administration of prime minister noda will need to address if it really wants to secure a safe

and stable supply. >> thanks. appreciate it. >> that was our special feature on japan's changing energy policy. "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan post-march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. "nuclear watch" brings you insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead" examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline. a memorial ceremony was held at the site of the world trade center in new york on the tenth anniversary of the september 11th terrorist attacks on sunday. [ bag pipes ] u.s. president president barack obama, former president george w. bush and the victims' relatives attended the ceremony

that started shortly after 8:30 a.m. ten years ago, two hijacked passenger planes crashed into the twin towers within minutes of each other causing them to collapse. a total of 2,977 people died. the ceremony took place at a newly built memorial on the site where the world trade centers once stood. >> please join in observing our first moment of silence. [ bell rings ] >> a minute of silence was observed at 8:46 a.m., the exact time when the first plane crashed into the building. at the ceremony, obama expressed his condolences to the victims by reading from the bible. >> lord of hosts is with us. >> bush who served as the president at the time of the attacks and during the wars that followed quoted a letter sent by president abraham lincoln to a

mother who lost five sons in the civil war. >> the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the alter of freedom. >> the ceremony continued for about five hours. it was held under tight security this year after a possible terror plot by al qaeda came to light. in pakistan, anti-u.s. rallies and demonstrations were held across the country. >> islamists and political parties called on people to take part in the events. and they gathered in islamabad. they say the united states is using the september 11th attacks

as an excuse to kill muslims in afghanistan. they criticize the u.s. for continuing their operations in the region saying the u.s. should stop killi ining pakista with unmanned planes. they also condemn the pakistani government for obeying the united states. to counter-terrorist attacks in the country sparking retaliation by islamist extremists. about 30,000 civilians and more than 5,000 military personnel have been killed in the attacks. bilateral relations were shaken after the united states killed osama bin laden in may without giving advance notice to pakistan. the operation invited criticism that the united states had violated pakistan's sovereignty and led to further sentiment in the country. and welcome back to your

weather update. for east asia we are monitoring an area of activity here in the pacific. we have what looks like it may become a tropical storm system in the next couple hours. you can see the forecast. it's already a tropical storm system. we'll need to keep an eye on that. could be stormy later this week. meanwhile up towards japan, we've got this long frontal boundary. bringing in showers mostly across northern japan and southern tip of the korean peninsula. that is pulling up. could be seeing stormy activity in the mix. over towards china, few scattered showers on this band. for the philippines looking as showery. then into the indochina peninsula with heavy showers possible. monday's high's looking like this. 32 and muggy in tokyo.

more pleasant for seoul at 27. still looking hot in areas like chongqing coming up to 35. over towards the americas, we've got clouds in the corner from tropical storm maria working its way through the caribbean. it is starting to move away from puerto rico. looks like it's going to veer towards sea. getting away from these islands, that is good news. it is maintaining strength. so those outer rain bands impacting the islands. up to 150 millimeters possible. so you want to watch out for more rain. central americas, too, warm and unsettled. showers lingering into mexico. more rain is in the forecast in the area. for north america, still on the west side here for the mid-atlantic regions.

unsettled weather persisting. nothing extremely heavy but isolated showers are possible. flooding situation is still serious. even small amounts of rain will not be good news. rain showers also moving through central canada today. then up towards the west too looking at some showers and even thunderstorms bubbling up. monday's high getting up to 29 in denver. warmer in the east coast. 30 degrees for d.c. and finally a look at europe. it is getting a bit stormy for the british isles. got a developed low coming in. winds will be strong showers too on the heavy side. especially for northern areas. up towards scotland as well as northern ireland, watch for these gusty and heavy showers through monday. rain moving out of central europe tonight. going to be looking drier. a denmark also looking on the

wet side. temperatures remain on the mild side for continental europe. berlin 23. 26 vienna. paris rising to 24 degrees. all right. that's a look at your weather for now. and here is your three-day outlook.

it's the opening day of the autumn ground sumo tournament. this time people are keeping their eye especially on one man. harumafuji. he's trying to get to the highest rank of yokozuna. he attacks. but resists. harumafuji finds himself in big trouble. harumafuji tries a hip trick but it is withstood. escape from a near upset.

the weekend can never forget when we talk about yolk sue know hakuho. seventh championship streak came to an end in july. hakuho gets a krip and drives aran back out. hakuho hardly breaks a sweat. the usual suspects have gotten off to a solid start. make sure to join in again to day two on nhk to get the latest. and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.