clean-up crew. an innovative machine adds home to the clean up recovery effort in northeast japan. welcome back to "newsline." the maker has developed something to make the soil safe. toshiba has made an effort to clean up the soils and play

yards around the fukushima daiichi power plant. government rules for the clean up take effect later this month. then communities will begin full scale decontamination work. toshiba spokesperson says the equipment can decontaminate 1.7 tons of soil sludge per day. toshiba and japanese machinery maker collaborated to develop the system to extract low level radioactive materials from the sewage systems and water systems. the devices are based on technologies for the fukushima daiichi plant. >> translator: we would like to decontaminate the waters and systems. we hope the residents will come back. >> company spokesperson says they are trying to reduce the equipment's operating costs and improve the treatment capacity. they hope to ramp up production.

the nuclear crisis minister wants to make fukushima prefecture a set up area for a study. >> translator: fukushima prefecture will be a relevant venue for the world to learn about the basic principles of nuclear safety. >> in an interview with nhk, goshi hosono talked about the process at the fukushima daiichi which will take 30 to 40 years. >> translator: we will conduct advanced areas through medicine and decontamination. lessons learned must be

available to the rest of the world. >> goshi hosono said his ministry will work to develop robots to be used to remove fuel roads and dispose of the damaged reactors. the french nuclear reactor program says they need millions of dollars to prevent disasters. the nuclear safety authority revealed the assessments of 58 plants. nearly 80% of the energy resources come from nuclear power generation. the head of the safety authority, andre-claude lacoste, said none of the reactors need to be shutdown immediately. he called on power companies to submit additional reports on safety measures. >> translator: we may need to close the facilities if their operators cannot improve safety before the end of june. >> nuclear power policy is a key

issue in this year's french presidential election. president nicolas sarkozy is a strong supporter of nuclear power generation. winter is oyster season in japan and one of the main areas where they are produced is miyagi. many farmers lost everything in the march 11th tsunami. helped arrived from an unusual source. growers in hiroshima, japan. >> reporter: usually 70% of the oysters sold at the market is large, but this year it is 30%. the crisis has spurred the oyster farmers in hiroshima to

step up their farming. they are concerned that it could led to an overall drop in demand. this could cut the entire industry. >> translator: we are shipping more to ensure the demand for oysters does not dry up. >> reporter: since august, a group of oyster farmers has been offering practical help building oyster rafts in miyagi prefecture. they brought all of the materials with them from hiroshi hiroshima. including the bamboo for making the rocks. this gentleman is the team leader. >> translator: we're doing what we can to ensure the oyster formers to get their businesses running again. >> reporter: this is the first time the two rival regions have worked together.

the farming methods are different from miyagi. after the work is finished, they all gather for a party. he speaks with a local oyster farmer who lost his home and all of his equipment. >> translator: hiroshima is sending all its support for you. >> reporter: over the past three days, they built three rafts together. >> translator: seeing a few rafts out on the water makes me want to do everything possible to rebuild my business. >> reporter: he and his family now living in a temporary housing unit. he has a family of nine to support. so he wants to resume oyster farming as soon as possible. the assistance from hiroshima has lifted his spirits.

>> translator: while we are eating, we chat about hiroshima. my family has been in very low spirits, but we are much more cheerful now. >> reporter: a couple of months later, he receives a parcel from hiroshima. the rope is for hanging young oysters from the rafts. since many companies supplying the ropes were affected by the tsunami, he asked for help. he immediately starts tying his young oysters on to the ropes. >> translator: it's so good to be able to do this again. let's produce lots of oysters so we can build a new house. >> reporter: at last, he is taking the first step toward getting back into business. recently, a letter an arrives at

mori's house in heiroshima. he writes they are making progress. >> translator: we are looking forward to suzuki is harvesting oysters. he would like to sell his oysters under the name bonds of oysters. >> suzuki and his friends have 80 rafts. before, they had 600. they will need plenty of help to get their business back on its feet again. while stocks started on a positive note in the united states. for more on that and how stocks are in 2012, we have ai with more. >> a positive start. new york stocks surged more than 260 points on tuesday. that was the first trading day of 2012 for wall street. the rise was due to expectations

for a u.s. economic recovery. market players may be looking forward to the presidential election in november. in past election years, ruling parties have introduced stimulus measures to win voter support. prices have gained in seven of the ten presidential poll years. during tuesday's trading, orders increased after the manufacturing data for december. later, investors sold advancing shares. the diejz closed ow jones close. we go to ramin mellegard with more on the stock exchange. how are we doingt the opening in tokyo? >> reporter: good morning. a possibitive start here. let's go to the nikkei and

topix. the nikkei up over 100 points in the first few minutes of trading. a quick look back at 2011. the nikkei was down 17% on the year. still has a lot of way to make back to come back from those levels. the u.s. markets also with the dow up 5.5% on the year. nasdaq was down 2%. the s&p was unchanged. the volatility due to the eurozone and currency markets is not likely to go away soon. a lot of focus there on bond yields in europe and a lot of bond options coming up in january will still be a focus as well. let's have a look at the currency levels here as well this wednesday morning in tokyo trading time. 76 to 77. the euro holding from 10 to 15.

on january 2nd, while the stock markets were closed, the euro hit 98 to 99. a lot of exporters sharply in battle with that stronger yen. many of them had to revise lower their assumed exchange rates. ai. >> we have key events this week. what do we have? >> reporter: the main one coming on friday, which is the united states jobs report. we already had manufacturing ending in 2011. we had the ism coming out on tuesday. the johns number is coming out. that is a crucial factor. the unemployment dropped to 8.6% in the united states last year. with the elections, a crucial focus for markets. a lot of focus will be on the job situation in the situation and, of course, highly likely to be a major point in the

political debates among the candidates. the sharp focus for japan will likely be the growth in china and in the u.s. and obviously also an eye on eurozone debt issues. given that, a lot of focus on the u.s. economy for 2012 as far as japan is concerned. back to you. >> thanks for that. ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. the march disaster and emergency created challenges for japan companies in 2011. that is on top of the strong yen and deflation. some businesses are struggling to get back on their feet. we put the question to yoshio nakamura. >> good afternoon. lovely to meet you. thank you for your time today. >> thank you very much.

cooperation among the different companies was attained after the disaster. the recovery we thought took nine months, but it only took half a year because of the cooperation. once this happened with one company, many companies cooperated to review the companies. >> building on that momentum, he is urging members to pursue high-tech projects. >> we have a so-called future city modern project. we do not have to depend on the government action. we can do it by ourselves. we designated a future city project. we put the high technology and

know how and experience into one city. we create an eco city. >> what do you hope for japan? >> we have to raise the consumption tax. consumption tax means that we suffer from the yen depression. it is a vicious circle. we have to change the direction or the price by policy. we raise the consumption tax and we can change the policy price direction from downward to upward. >> he says promoting trade with asian countries will be key to boosting the japanese economy in 2012. >> asia pacific area is the

center of growth. that means we have to consider the trade partnership agreement. we can have it fall in demand after concluding with the partnership agreement. innovation and research and development is the key to economic growth and revival of the japanese economy. we tried to worry about the difficulties. we have to conquer and get over this problem otherwise we cannot survive in the future. let's get an update on where the markets are trading.

>> that's the latest in business for this hour. back to kanako. thank you. the 2012 presidential elections will have a caucus in the state of iowa. the caucus will begin soon in 1,800 locations. the outcome is about to have a significant impact on the party's nominating process. the candidates are making their final speeches. mitt romney stresses the ability to revitalize the economy in the state capital.

he says president obama should quit because he failed to keep his promise to rebuild the economy in three years. ron paul is calling for a small government. he wants u.s. troops to return home. he says he will not send young people to war. the latest poll in iowa gives romney a support rate of 24%. followed by 22% for paul. former senator rick santorum has a success rate of 15%. the republican is stressing christian values and opposition to abortion. the poll shows that many voters are still undecided making the caucus a close race. the polls indicate romney and former speaker of the house newt gingrich are vying for the top position. a final round of parliamentary elections are happening in egypt. polling stations across egypt opened for the third round of the elections on tuesday.

the polls mark an important step to democracy after the ouster of hosni mubarak. troops are stationed at polling stations to contain the protests against the interim military rulers. >> translator: i wish my country would take the right path based on islamic teachings. >> translator: i believe this will change egypt significantly reflecting individual opinions. >> in the previous two elections held late last year, the brotherhood and islamic military gained more than 60% of the vote. they also won many single-seat districts. the final results are expected to be announced on january 13th. afghanistan's taliban insurgent group has reached a basic agreement in qatar to

promote peace talks. in a statement issued on tuesday, it agreed with the qatar policies so it can discuss peace. the administration of president obama has conducted behind the scenes talks. hamid karzai has already indicated that his government would accept the opening of the office. but the taliban statement strongly demanneds the release of the prisoners in the guantanamo bay. still, another block of the

taliban is not what it is to be. they have been inn lifted in the battle of the u.s. forces. the group's spokesperson told nhk that this visited in november and december. they asked to shift their target from the pakistani military and police to the troops in afghanistan. the spokesperson said his group had accepted the request and plans to send fighters to afghanistan in march. the groups always agree to set up a five-member council to coordinate activities. next, it is over to sayaka mori for the forecast. >> let's take a look at what is happening across east asia. dry weather across the northern

portions of china and mongolia. lots of sunshine for you. along the realm of the high pressure area, strong northerly winds are prevailing. that is affecting wind and snow. that will move over southern china and snow is lingering on the west coast of the korean peninsula. as for japan, blowing snow conditions is continuing on the western side. thunderstorms could accompany the heavy snowshowers. the pacific side will stay largely dry. you will see snow flakes in the evening. toward the philippines, rain will gradually move east today. the central and southern areas of the philippines will continue to see rain and rain could intensify as we head into thursday. as for the indo-china peninsula, heavy rain and damaging flood in thailand. you may see scattered thundershowers today. any additional rain is not good

news here. temperatures. we are expecting 10 degrees in tokyo and staying in the sub zero mark. with minus 3 degrees and chilly at 4 degrees in shanghai. ed heading over to the americas. the eastern portions are running way below average in some snow is lingering in the northeast states. we have hard freeze warnings in effect for the deep south on wednesday. meanwhile, this high pressure area is bringing very warm air from the south pushing up temperatures. we will show you the figures in just a moment. this low pressure system is moving into the b.c. area. that will bring heavy coastal rain and mountain snow and freezing rain. winds will be problematic with gusts over 100 kilometers per hour reported in b.c. and the stormy conditions will

spread to the pacific northwest on wednesday. temperatures as i said are very cold in the east. we expect only minus 2 in new york and 2 in washington d.c. we are expecting 11 degrees in seattle. 15 in denver. 29 degrees in los angeles. definitely feels like summer here. finally, let's go over to europe. a series of low pressure system is bringing wet and windy conditions to the northern areas. particularly windy here with the low pressure system. areas like the southern scandinavian peninsula and germany and poland is on high alert for strong winds. precipitation wise. rain and mountain snow will move eastward and spread to finland and the rest of the continental europe in the next 24 hours. another round of stormy weather is on the way to impact the

british iles. meanwhile, the only dry spot is going to be the iberian peninsula. way above average in moscow with a mix of rain and snow. 5 degrees in warsaw. i'll leave you now with the extended forecast.

japan's leading electronics maker toshiba is giving people hope affected by the disaster last march. they have a system to decontaminate areas affected by

the power plant. government rules take effect later this month. communities will begin full-scale decontamination work. their equipment can decontaminate 1.7 tons of sludge. toshiba and ihi also collaborated in developing a system to extract low-level radioactive materials from water and reservoirs and sewage systems. >> translator: we would like to decontaminate the water and soil with this system. we will go ahead with the work after checking the communities are safe. then we hope residents come back. >> the company spokesperson says they are trying to reduce the equipment's operating costs.

japanese archers have practiced their first shots of the new year. more than 80 students gathered on tuesday for the event at a venue in miyagi prefecture. they wore traditional clothing. some of the women were dressed in kimono for the year. they controlled their breathing before shooting the arrows to the targets from a distance of 30 meters. one said she prayed to improve her skills and become a responsible person as she willow efficiently become an adult as she turns 20 this year. and that's all for this hour on "newsline." we'll be back with more news at the top of the hour. i'm kanako sachno. thanks for joining us.