an independent report says the operator of fukushima daiichi and the jaeps government made mistakes before, during and after the march nuclear accident. a panel of investigators says people who run nuclear power plants need to foresee the unforeseen. the japanese government appointed the panel to find out what went wrong at fukushima

daiichi. its ins rim report blames tokyo electric power company and the government for their mistakes. the investigation started in june. ten members of the panel interviewed 456 people, including tepco workers and government officials. the report describes how tepco predicted in 2008 that a tsunami higher than ten meters could hit the plant. the utility failed to strengthen its anti-tsunami measures. the report says that inaction ultimately failed to prevent the melt downs at fukushima daiichi. panel members also criticized tepco's initial response to the accident. they say fire trucks should have been sent in earlier to pump water into the reactors. that may have lessened damage to the fuel rods, thereby reducing the leak of radiation. the report found problems with the government's handling of the crisis. a computer system that predicts how radioactive materials spread in the event of a nuclear accident wasn't used when

evacuations were planned, and evacuation orders were not precise. so they failed to promptly reach the effected municipalities. a japanese nuclear expert is calling for further investigation. >> it should be clarified whether the prime minister's office took effective action while the accident was in progress and the situation was volatile. the investigation should access the cries i management system and comment on the matter in their final report. >> the panel is expected to release its final report next year. our reporter read the incident rim report. spoke to us earlier to tell us about some of the highlights. >> tepco report was drafted by specialist handpicked by the utility, but the government report comes from an independent committee, so it could be seen as more objective. tepco's report did touch on how the melt downs occurred, but failed to clarify the root cause

of the accident. for the first time, this new report clearly states the japanese government played a roll in making the crisis worse. this says the government wasn't prepared for three disasters, a big earthquake, a tsunami, and a nuclear accident. it says communication was insufficient between the prime minister's office and crisis management center which was responsible for gathering updated information on fukushima. it explains in detail the errors tepco workers made right after the earthquake and tsunami hit fukushima daiichi. they were late to respond to the problems with reactor number one. they fell behind in their attempt to cool down the reactor. they failed to use the only workable cooling system called the isolated condenser after the plant lost its major power sources. the condenser uses steam to cool it down, but neither workers, the taskforce on the site, nor officials at headquarters knew how to operate the condenser at

the time of the emergency. the report says as the operator of a nuclear plant, tepco's lack of knowledge was extremely inappropriate. it says there could have been ways to slow down the pace of melt downs and lessen leakage of radiation outside the plant. the independent government committee is scheduled to finalize the report by summer of 2012, after interviewing officials and ministers who were in charge during the time of the accident. they call for fundamental, drastic changes to nuclear safety and response policy. tokyo electric power company says it will use an industrial endoscope to look inside a damaged reactor at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. the ten meter long, eight millimeter wide device will be deployed from next month. it plans to measure temperatures and other conditions inside the containment vessel at the number two reactor. the endoscope will provide the first opportunity to see the inside of a containment vessel

at the plant since nuclear fuel melted down in march. the nuclear fuel is believed to have melted through the wall of the pressure vessels and accumulated on the bottom of the containment vessels. the government announced that all reactors have been brought under control, but there is little information on the conditions inside of the reactor's containment vessels. good morning, ai. >> last month, the government ordered a ban on sales of rice in eight districts of fukushima prefecture. now the agriculture ministry decided to buy up all of the rice from those districts. the ban was imposed after radiation tests showed rice recorded levels above 100 becquerels per kilogram. the ministry says it will buy up all rice in eight districts as

well as any other contaminated crops. they will ask tokyo electric power company, the operator of the plant, to pick up the bill. it estimates it will have to buy 4,000 tons of contaminated rice. the japanese government is also set to sign a currency swap deal with india. another move to prevent europe's credit turmoil from harming asian financial markets. sources say the prime minister yoshihiko noda will agree to the swap at a summit with his indian counterpart. the two leaders meet in new deli wednesday. the swap agreement is expected to shore up the rup ee. it weakened among problems in europe as foreign investors pull their money out of the country. it provides india with a source of foreign currency in the event of a financial crisis. japan is offering to provide up to $10 billion to stabilize india's currency markets.

the exchanges in the u.s. and europe were closed for the holidays. for more on how stocks in japan are trading this tuesday morning, we go to ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. there's not much direction from the united states. how are stocks kicking off in tokyo. >> good morning to you. not much direction from european or u.s. markets, as you mentioned, ai. let's look at the levels for nikkei and topix this morning. both are marginally lower. we did manage to see some gains yesterday, up about 1%, and some of that was on the back of exporters which had risen after seeing some selling late last week, but as you can see there, the nikkei and topix are just marginally lower. volume is below average, meaning not many market participants want major positions this time of year, positive or negative. and let's not forget, nikkei has

been down on the year. with a couple of trading days left, it is unlikely to make up the 20% fall we have seen so far this week, and as such has underperformed or performed worse than the dow, and some of the european indexes like the fat see. it outperformed the shanghai composite. focus for markets in 2012 is likely to remain on the eurozone and any progress on sovereign debt as well as banking sector, with that in mind we saw numeral holdings and day was losing a touch, not a major move. some market hesitation about concerns of exposure of banks to sovereign debt. kred ilt rating agency warnings, keeping the lid on market enthusiasm. some data out of the u.s. showed

improvement in jobs, housing, ffrg. with that in mind, case schiller home price index later today may shed more light on that. ai? >> you mentioned 20% yearly fall for nikkei. strong yen a major factor behind that plunge. what can you tell us about currency markets. >> let's have a look here this tuesday morning at the dollar yen, euro yen. holding back key exporters. yen gained from 85.52 back in april to 75.55 in october. a ten yen swing which has eaten into profits for exporters, but the euro has seen a much bigger swing. trading around 123 back in april, hit 100 in early october. now you can see 101.75-80. when you consider the u.s. and europe to be two of the biggest economies in the world with a lot of key japanese exports selling into the markets, all

the way from heavy industry to auto to office equipment to household goods to games makers like nintendo, sony, you can see huge exposure for japanese exports. see how it ends today. for now, they're marginally lower this tuesday morning. back to you in the studio. >> ramin, thanks for that. ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. japan is selling what they say is the most fuel efficient car in the country. rollout of the hybrid is expected to intensify competition for small, fuel efficient cars. toyota put the new aqua hybrid on the market monday. it says the aqua can run 35.4 kilometers on a single liter of gasoline. considered the highest rated mileage in hybrid cars in japan. the price tag starts at a little over $21,000.

toyota plans to export the model to the united states and other countries next spring. this year, other japanese automakers like mazda, suzuki introduced gasoline powered small cars just as fuel efficient as hybrids. here is a recap of the latest market figures. >> that's the latest from business this hour. back to catherine. >> thanks very much, ai. a group of civilians are

visiting to offer condolences over the death of his father. the south korean government gave permission to make the trip to the north. the 18-member group includes former first lady ihi ho, widow of the late south korean president. as president he held a landmark summit with kim jong-il in 2000. another group met is hyong gung, chairwoman of the hyundai group. her company runs a joint venture for tourists in the north. the south declined to send an official delegation to offer condolences to the north. >> translator: we hope our visit will lead to improving ties between the two koreas. >> the group crossed into the demilitarized zone by car on monday. the members will return home on tuesday.

twoonchts groups went to seoul to show their views on visiting for condolences. the south korean government gave permission to make the trip to the north. the 18-member group includes former first lady ihi ho, widow of the late south korean president. members criticized mourn irrelevanciers from the north and tore up flags. they shouted the south shouldn't accept the north's inhumane acts.tore up flags. they shouted the south shouldn't accept the north's inhumane actup flags. they shouted the south shouldn't accept the north's inhumane actthey shouted the south shoult accept the north's inhumane acts. pop in the indian ocean region are remembering a tsunami

that hit seven years ago. royce held a memorial service in indonesia, one of the areas hardest-hit by the disaster. some japanese that survived the march 11 tsunami were there. >> the city devastated by the indian ocean tsunami is well on the road to recovery. residents have gradually been able to forget what happened. but the tsunami that hit japan brought back a memory of the giant wave. >> i saw it on tv. i prayed to god. >> i felt sorry for the japanese experiencing a similar disaster. >> people pray for the souls of disaster victims in both

countries. 22 educational experts came from japan, from areas hit by the march 11 tsunami and worked with children that lived through the disaster. now they want to learn from the experience. >> passage of time will not heal their wounds, but i believe helping each other, learning together can offer a bright future to both countries. >> he offered support for japan. >> translator: we are not capable of giving much help in terms of money, but what we can do is give spiritual support.

we are always on the alert, teach our children to understand issues related to natural disasters and their impact. >> this year on the anniversary of the tsunami, they renew the determination to help each other through natural disasters around the world. how can we use experiences as lessons of natural disasters to save lives and make disaster prevention plans. this is an important issue for the international community.

an angry protest outside a local government office is the latest obstacle to a planned relocation of a u.s. marine base in okinawa. the japanese government has taken the unusual step of mailing a key report on the relocation. the japanese and u.s. governments agreed that the futenma air station should be moved to an offshore area near nago. the government completed an environmental assessment report last week. it studied the impact the base would have on local ecology and the anticipated level of aircraft noise. the assessment has to be submitted to the okinawan governor in order to move the relocation plan forward. opponents of the plan protested in front of the prefectural government building. some staged a sit-in inside. the government wanted to avoid inflaming tensions so it decided to mail the 7,000-page report rather than deliver it personally. the okinawan governor has 45 days to submit his views on the report. it's considered unlikely that the governor will approve the relocation plan. the japanese government is set to announce new exceptions to its guidelines on the exports of arms. it will officially announce the new rules on tuesday following a cabinet meeting on national

security. the guidelines will allow japan to export any defense equipment that contributes to peace-building. japan will be able to cooperate with the united states and other countries to develop equipment if the deals are seen as helping peace-making or national security interests. the japanese government will have to approve any arms shipments to third-party countries. under the new rules, japan's self-defense forces will be able to provide host countries with heavy machinery and protective gear for peace-keeping operations. japan's foreign minister invited myanmar's foreign democracy leader aung san suu kyi to japan. the nobel peace laureate has accepted the offer. they spoke to reporters after landing in the largest city of myanmar on monday night. >> translator: i'm looking

forward to seeing aung san suu kyi visit japan in the future so she can see japan has recovered from the earthquake and tsunami of march 11th. >> the pro-democracy leader said she's grateful for the invitation and hopes to visit japan as she has not been to the country for a long time. in the meeting, gemba hope said he wants japan to support myanmar as much as possible. he said he hopes to solidify democracy and public reconciliation in the country in cooperation with the united states. aung san suu kyi called on the japanese government to spotlight the plight of ethnic minorities in myanmar. she said japan must understand the importance of this issue in building a solid democracy.

it's crunch time for store owners at an outdoor market in tokyo. the end of december is when they make a good chunk of their annual profits from shoppers looking for everything from chocolate to fish. but this year, vendors are facing some challenges. >> reporter: this is an outdoor shopping district in central tokyo. late december is the busiest time here. more than 200,000 people fill hundreds of stores in this area looking for deals. >> the sights, the sounds, the smells. i just was taking a photo of this street here because with all the people shouting out, the prices of the fish. >> reporter: prices at this market aren't set in stone. this chocolate shop sells by the bag.

for $12, you get a random assortment of treats. and if you're lucky, this guy might throw in a few extras. this is a dream come true for anybody with a sweet tooth like me. if i were to buy all these at a regular store, it would probably cost me about $30. but this is all it cost me. what a steal. eager customers swarm this family-run fish stand at this time of year looking for ingredients to make a traditional japanese new year's meal featuring fatty tuna, giant crab legs, pickled octopus, and sashimi. shoppers can usually buy foods here for at least a 30% discount compared to regular tokyo prices. but this year fish sellers in particular are struggling to keep prices low because japan's march 11th disaster restricted supplies.

>> translator: we're selling this tuna for $12 a pack. we've always sold it for that much. but just because of the disaster we don't want to rate the prices to $20. since the profits are lower this year, it's even more important for us to sell as much as we can. >> reporter: stores geared toward foreign customers are also feeling the pinch. many regular shoppers from china and other asian countries left japan after the earthquake and tsunami. >> translator: sales weren't good this year. about 80% of the shops on this floor really rely on nonjapanese shoppers so these products didn't sell. >> reporter: it's near a main train station linking tokyo with the northeastern tohoku region. vendors are doubling efforts to lure those customers back and not just because they want their business. >> it's all about positive energy. it's the bridge between tohoku

and tokyo. when people from that region come here i want them to think, i'm glad i came here. that's how i hope to end the year. >> reporter: every year the stores earn up to 30% of their annual profits in the last week of december alone. they hope the boost they get now will give them a much-needed head start to the new year. rina nakano, nhk world, tokyo. >> shoppers are braving the winter chills for a good discount. commuters this morning here in tokyo are braving the cold. in the last week of the year, let's go to saki ochi who has her global weather forecast. welcome to your weather update. getting a look at conditions across east asia, we are going to be talking about much cooler temperatures really across this area.

and plenty of dry conditions as well. china and in through the korean peninsula under a high pressure area. things do remain dry again today. for japan too. we're continuing to see a lot more sunshine spread, much drier weather even for this western side of the country that has been seeing a lot of snow these past few days. that is starting to ease. by tonight we should see it let up for much of the area. hokkaido looks like they'll continue to see a little more snowfall today. down towards the southeast, showers lingering across taiwan. for philippines today, central-southern sections will be looking at more showers coming on in. as for the indochina peninsula, it will be central vietnam that picks up a few light showers. otherwise it stays quite fine and dry. 20 expected in taipei. 11 shanghai. 2 for seoul. getting back up from sub-freezing levels. tokyo at 8, about the same as monday. although we're going to expect a

little more sunshine. so things may feel a little warmer during the afternoon. as for the americas, looking at this batch of clouds really spreading across the mississippi valley. we've got this low that's been trekking inland. it will continue to head in towards the northeast, bringing with it plenty of precipitation. as that heads into more of these northern areas, the midwest, mid-atlantic region, we'll start seeing it turn into icy stuff. chances of freezing rain to snow will be possible. it really combines with a separate area of snow moving through eastern canada. this entire corner of canada and the u.s. u.s. will be looking at much more wintry conditions the next 24 hours. as for the pacific northwest, things do stay unsettled again today. we've gotten continuing moisture impacting coastal areas. mountain regions will be picking up snow. also looks like another system is dropping through central canada as well. another round of snow for you as well. as for highs on tuesday, expecting to get up to 10 in new york. 3 in toronto. 8 in d.c. a little cooler for atlanta, coming in at 10.

dropping into the teens for houston as well. and lastly, a look at europe here. we've just been hearing of a lot of gusty conditions for the northern half of europe. you can see these lined spaces close together. these areas will continue to see a lot more windy weather. damage from that will remain a concern for the rest of tonight. shower-wise we're going to be seeing precipitation move through finland and spread on into western russia and things do stay unsettled for norway, however. coastal areas especially in the north continuing to pick up a lot more moisture. in the south, that heavy rain should show signs of easing over the course of tonight. for the british isles, meanwhile, a round of rain is coming on in. i'd, northern ireland, scotland will be feeling wet weather once again. it should be largely rain as we are looking at fairly mild conditions across much of europe. temperatures are definitely slightly above average. 10 in london. 5 in paris. 11 again in berlin. moscow above the freezing mark for tuesday. that's a look at your weather for now.

here is your three-day outlook.

that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do stay with us. more updates at the top of next more updates at the top of next hour. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com