selling the tax hike. >> translator: i think there are limits to what the younger generation can do to support the social security system. >> japan's prime minister explains his reforms aimed at covering the rising costs of an aging nation. welcome to nhk world "newsline". japanese leaders are looking into the future and seeing red. the country's national debt is growing and so is the number of senior citizens who rely on government support, so prime

minister yoshihiko noda is trying to shore up finances. he and other members of the diet passed a bill to double the consumption tax and change the social security system. one bill would increase the tax on goods and services from 5 to 10% by 2015. 363 lawmakers voted in favor of it. 96 voted against it. politicians hope the revenues will help them pay down japan's substantial debt. they also want to cover the rapid rise in spending on things such as pensions. the opposition liberal democratic party and new komeito party voted with the governing coalition. 57 members voted against a consumption tax bill. they include former party leader ichiro ozawa. 16 other dpj members ab stained or were absent. the set of reforms were sent to the upper house where they are expected to to be passed into law. prime minister noda spoke a few hours after the lower house vote

and stressed the significance of the reform bills. >> translator: there is no time to waste in reforming the social security system. the aim comprehensive reforms is to maintain a stable financial source for social security services and to achieve fiscal conservation at the same time. that stable source is the consumption tax. members of the public expressed their views on the consumption tax hike. >> i understand a tax raise is for the nation's finance but it should be not on daily essentials, the government needs more thought before policies. >> translator: i understand the

government when they say each citizen must pay equal tax to share the burden. >> i don't understand why the government decided to raise the tax. they need to consult with people through elections. >> translator: i think there's no choice, japan will be crushed by debt if the tax isn't raised. i don't want to make trouble for my grandchildren. >> translator: it makes shopping a bit more difficult. >> prime minister noda said he would risk his political career on passing the bills during this session of parliament. nhk world has been following noda's changing fortune. why is is the prime minister insisting on raising the tax consumption tax when he knows not all but many japanese are against such a move? >> that's because japan is calling a greater proportion of

debt on its books than any other developed nation in the world. experts point towards greece as a warning of the need to get this country's finances in order. debt as a percentage of gross domestic product in japan is higher than in any other industrialized nation. and net public debt, the figure is rising second by second. but the consumption tax, when you compare it to that in other worthy nations is relatively low. on top of that, japan has one of highest proportions of citizens older than 65 as noda mentioned. paying for social security is putting an increasing strain on national policies. >> i guess the question is, will this work? will it support the aging population at the same time get rid of a lot of the debt that japan has? >> noda is focusing on a two-stage increase towards 10% tax as we've been talking about.

of course, a personal consumption changes year by year, but still we know raising the tax will increase revenues by billions of dollars. noda knows that that's not the complete solution for restoring fiscal health. but he said it will be a step toward balancing the budget. and economists say that there's still room to increase the tax rate beyond 10%. actually analysts from the international monetary fund have recommended that japan eventually increase the consumption tax to at least 15%. >> noda faced opposition with his own party in 57 of lawmakers did not support the bills. how will this affect his administration? >> i just said, noda has repeatedly said he will risk his political career on this issue. so now he may say that he fulfilled his promise. at the same time, once again, as

i said, 57 lawmakers of noda's own party did not support the bills. that's about 20% of the ruling dpj. the democrats will lose their majority in the lower house if more than 54 lawmakers left the party. and that would open up the possibility of a nonconfidence motion. in that case, prime minister noda will be forced to dissolve of the law of house and call a general election or he will have to simply resign and that could happen in the near future. >> thanks as always. for a closer look at the likely impact of this extra tax, my colleague ron madison spoke earlier with an executive fellow at the research institute and an expert on the japanese economy. >> i guess the big question for many is what is going to be the short term and long term impact

of the tax hike? >> i think it is more certain that there will be some short-term negative effect on the japanese economy. it is clearly pushing down that level of consumptions. that was exactly what happened 15 years ago when the consumption tax was introduced for first time. and that might repeat again. but speaking about the much longer term effect, i think the effect might be some positive aspects. for example, as a result of this tax increase, if the japanese people feel that their social security system would be more reliable, that might make japanese consumers more willing to spend or if the company -- japanese companies would be ready to raise their wages, perhaps, sometime next year, in line with this consumption tax

increase, that is another factor that mitigate the negative effect of the consumption tax increase. overall in the long run the effect would be mixed and depending on the policy responses and the business responses, this might be able to produce some positive effect. >> i see. sounds like a lot, actual doubling the consumption tax. but we have been hearing from everyone from think tanks to ratings agencies and international banks like the imf saying 10% isn't going to be enough for japan to dig itself out of the hole. what do you think of the 10% rate? >> i think 10% increase is not the final step. i think it's a part of the larger package. what i think in the long run japanese government has to do is to address the question of overall social security reforms as well as tax reforms. if japanese government relies on only consumption tax increase,

eliminate the current fiscal deficit, i think the tax rate has been something like 20%, which is very, very high, but, if this is taken as a part of a larger packages, for example, if there is room for increasing income tax or inheritance tax or even energy taxes, then i think there will be much, much larger packages, which might put the japanese fiscal situations in a more balanced way. and also, i think on the expenditure side, the japanese people want, the japanese government to cut back on expenditures. for example, the number of politicians or bureaucrats, there's room for farther cutting back. >> prime minister noda was very passionate about this, risking his political career on this. do you think the markets are seeing this as a strong,

confident move by him which will play well in the markets, or was the prime minister gambling with japan's economic future? >> i think there is some element of gambling, a lot of uncertainties on what will happen over next several months as a result of this actions. so it is a little premature to say that japanese as a result of this japanese economy is not on the right track. i think there is some need for more close careful assessment of a japanese economy. >> that was nezu, executive fellow at the fujitsu research institute. indian investigators believe the detainee is a suspect group

helping plan the 2008 mum buy attacks. this led to the arrest the deli airport. >> the new delhi police went through the arrest first and then we will certainly see what appropriate action can be taken. >> indian media say they vowed hindy to the attackers. he is also accused of orders from pakistan during the assault. the violence rocked india's hub in november 2008. 166 people were killed. the only person arrest sewed far was a pakistani citizen and the only surviving assailant. he was sentenced it death by an indian court in 2010.

indian authorities have been pressuring pakistan to hand over the suspected leader. the united states is also offering a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest. next, we go to thailand where japan's crowned prince has begun a seven-day tour of southeast asia. he arrived in bangkok on monday where he was welcomed by prime minister, and later this week he will also visit cambodia and louse. he received a warm reception despite the rainy weather. after a welcoming ceremony he held talks with the prime minister. he thanksed the thailand's royal family and for their help and sympathy given to japan in the wake of the march 11 catastro e

catastrophe. and later in the evening, crowned prince paid a courtesy call to the king and queen at the royal palace. the king has reigned over thailand for the past 66 years. he temporarily left the hospital where he has been residing. on tuesday, the crown prince visited a japanese school in bangkok. the school temporarily closed during last year's floods, forcing many of its 2,700 pupils to return to japan. inds neesha is celebrating the first birth in captivity after rare rhinocerous in over 120 years. the news raises hopes for the survival after species that is dani dangerously close to becoming

oeks stink. the male calf was born two days earlier in the national park of the island of sue ma tra. he is named from the indonesian words meaning gift from god. the last time a sue ma tran rhino was born in captivity in asia was 1889. >> translator: the rhino birth will be a milestone for the conversation of the sumatran rye flossrous and is expected to increase confidence in the international community and government efforts to conserve species in indonesia, especially rhinos. >> the international union for the nature estimates there are 200 wild sumatran wild rhinos left. the organization lifts them as critically endangered. that's going to wrap up our

bulletin. >> share holders of japan's leading steelmakers have given the go-ahead. separate shareholders meetings were held on tuesday. it will become the second largest steelmaker but it has to improve efficiency and product development. the company will be competing with south korean firms making high quality steel product. japan's renaissance electronics hold shareholders it is streamlining measures by july. they posted a fully net lost of over $750 million in the term through march. the struggling semi conductor maker revealed on tuesday it's plan to integrate and reduce the number of plants as well as cut jobs. renaissance will implement the restructuring plan in order to obtain a total of $1.25 billion.

mitsubishi and nec have been share ests company. most shareholders firms are keen to extend support and the details are now being discussed. nissan motor president ghosn received about $12 million in pay last fiscal year. that's among the top executives at top companies. he said on tuesday his wage went up with $62,000 from the previous year. his wage was bigger than all of the wages toyota paid to its senior managers last year. he said it was based on the company's performance as well as comparisons at other global corporations. nissan reported global sales booming especially in china and the united states. profits also showed a year on year gain. businesses are mining a micro blogging service in china. twitter and facebook are banned

but the homegrown cena wavo is approved and has 300 million members. they used service to communicate with customers. nhk explains. >> translator: i always check. you can't take advertisements at face value. >> leading japanese cosmetics maker set up a wavo account to alert people in china to its new brand. after posting information about new cosmetics, it analyzes the wavo reactions and then posts information about the products.

people who respond to the information posted are invited to the company's promotional events. after trying out the product, the invities post their comments and reactions, again by wavo. >> translator: we're not just sending out information. we want to hear what our fans have to say and respond to their comments, so we build up a strong bond with them. >> now an important part of product promotion, and so are the bloggers. working in shanghai, as a fine line she posts information about imported cosmetics. how wavo postses are very popular and she now has 75,000 followers. this came to the notice of an

advertising agency. it asked her to write on-line reviews of various skin care product. she then began to be contacted by cosmetics companies. now her reviews of their products earn her $1,900 a month boosting her income. >> i try it make sure to point out the good aspects and the bad. i want people to say they can trust a product based on what i say. >> advertising comments are drawing a list of people like jan who have been waibo followers. they pick up the ones they think will be best for endorsing product comments via waibo. >> translator: some waibo celebrities have hundreds of thousands of followers.

they yield amazing influence in getting people to trust products. >> the growing influence of micro blogs made them a key median for companies aiming to expand near business in china. nhk world, shanghai. >> turkish leaders have levelled new allegations against sir why and the downing after turkish warplane. syrian ground forces shot down the jet on friday over the mediterranean sea near the border between the countries. the two pilot are missing. a spokesperson says the air defense unit fired because the plane violated his country's airspace. he denied turkish claims that plane was overturkish waters. another charge in the dispute he says syrian forces fired without warning at another

turkish plane searching for the downed jet. he called that an act of aggression. and said syria should be punished under international law. a taliban official says the afghan insurgeant group is willing to resume peace talks with u.s. negotiatornegotiators. he says the obama administration has to make good on the agreements. the talks between the two sides have been stalled since march. month ham said a member of the taliban's political bureau. he represent the group at peace talks with the u.s. he spoke with nhk tuesday during a visit to kyoto. mohamed says reopening discussions is not possible right now because the u.s. has not followed through with earlier agreements. one of them includes releasing taliban members in american custody. mohamed says the taliban is ready to advance the dialogue if u.s. leaders show good faith. m hammed also spoke to nhk about the u.s. plan to release traps after ending its combat mission

in 2014. he argues all foreign troops must leave the country. he says the tag ban views the soldiers as a negative impact on prospects for peace. a beautiful day in tokyo. robert has the forecast here and elsewhere. robert? >> yes, gene. across most of southern and west enjapan, we have been watching the rainy season front here and unfortunately a new low pressure area is starting to develop and could bring about 180 millimeters of rain fall there over the next 24 hours. then going into thursday, actually off here towards the kyoto region including tokyo, you could also see rain as this low starts it work its way towards the east. but not only is japan being effected. up to about 238 millimeters of rain was recorded in the past 24 hours. any more rain fall on this already saturated ground here. we have been seeing reports of floods across the area. it is just going to continue to

worsen the situation. but with this rainy season in here across china and towards japan, we also have been watching high pressure over the korean peninsula where under factually one of the worst draughts in nearly 100 years has been occurring here due to that high, really just setting in place. that's what is keeping that front there just towards the south as well. unfortunately, it looks like throughout the remainder of the week, that high is remaining in place but going into the weekend this whole boundary should start to slowly lift off towards the north. bringing some well-needed rain fall there across much of the korean peninsula. now on the other hand let's look towards the south. this is the tropical depression. it is expected to intensify it a tropical storm within the next 24 hours before it moves off towards the west bringing rain fall there. and could bring the risk of flooding and landslides as it does so. temperatures shaping up like this. hong kong a high of 32.

beijing 27. tokyo average temperatures at 24 on your wednesday. now into the americas. tropical storm debby really has been the topic here. this is slowly moving off here towards the east. the center of circulation still is just off-shore but most of the rain showers and thunderstorm activity has moved on the florida peninsula here and that really is what the main threat is continuing to be. actually in jk sonville, you saw reports up to about 180 millimeters of rain in the past 24 hours. this is really due to just the stagnant nature of debby here. it is pulling out this moisture, kind of in this counter clockwise motion around the storm and pushing an odd shore here. this is what it'll look like over the next 48 hours. rain totals could add up over 200 mill meeters from the west coast towards the east coast. definitely continue to keep you informed on this. while toward the west, look at

denver. high of 39. in houston going through your tuesday, 38. in europe, you're watching this cold front pushing towards the east and western russia, you could see thunderstorm activity and rain showers. also, anybody who plans on going out and enjoying wimbledon here in week, tennis matches, unfortunately it looks like it could be soured here by this next low pressure area moving over the british isles. this is hot here across the iberian peninsula. paris at 27. off toward the east. warsaw up to 17 on your wednesday. now here is a look at your extended outlook.

once again our lead story, lower house members have voted in favor of key tax bills. the legislation will double the consumption tax and change japan's social security system. one bill would increase the tax on goods and services from five to 10% by 2015. 363 lawmakers voted in favor of it, 96 voted against it. politicians hope the revenues will help them pay down japan's substantial debt. they also want to cover the rapid rise in spending on things such as pensions. the opposition liberal democratic party voted with the governor coalition, 57 members of the ruling democratic party voted against the consumption tax bill. set of reforms were sent to the upper house where they are expected to be passed into law. we'll be back with more updates in 30 minutes. i'm gene otani in tokyo.

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