election ready. members of japan's main opposition party pick a former prime minister as their new leader in their bid to regain power. welcome to nhk world "newsline." japanese voters know the name, and the political party. shinzo abe was once their prime minister, and his liberal democrats once had a decades-long lock on governing.

the ldp's in opposition now. but with an election on the horizon, members elected abe as their leader, hoping he can help them push the ruling democratic party out of power. nhk's world mayuko amby reports. >> reporter: the outcome of the ldp leadership election marks a political comeback for shinzo abe. he became prime minister of japan in 2006, but he struggled with poor health and resigned after a year in office. >> translator: my victory today will not erase my responsibility for suddenly resigning as prime minister five years ago. keeping that in mind, i will try my utmost with all of you for the party to regain power. >> abe used his campaign to take a tough stance on japan's territorial disputes. he solidified his support base within the party.

lawmakers and local party members cast ballots in the first round of voting. four of them opted for the ldp's policy chief shigeru ishiba. only lawmakers could take part in the runoff. most picked abe. public opinion polls suggest the ldp stands a good chance of forming a government after three years of dpj rule. abe might find himself back in the prime minister's office. mayuko ambe, nhk world, tokyo. shinzo abe is already flexing his muscle as the ldp's new leader. he spoke a couple of hours after winning the top job and outlined why japanese should vote for his party in the next election. >> translator: currently japan's

waters and territory are being threatened by other countries. and our economy is struggling with prolonged deflation and the higher yen. we need to solve these problems and create a stronger and more affluent japan. that is my mission. >> people in tokyo have expressed mixed feelings about abe's re-election. >> translator: i was for abe, but to be honest i'm surprised he actually got elected. i hope he'll do good work. >> translator: when i look back, i can't expect much from him. >> translator: i'm concerned. abe might not be capable of dealing with diplomatic issues. abe comes from a political family. his grandfather was prime minister, too. shinzo abe was the youngest prime minister of the postwar era. he took office at the age of 52.

he visited china and south korea during his tenure and tried to improve relations. abe's grandfather nobusuke kishi led japan in the late 1950s. into 1960. his father shintaro abe served as a foreign minister. abe promised to use his experience to revise the constitution and to reform education. so abe has a lot of political know-how and a profile. shery ahn spoke earlier with our senior commentator to find out what his return as ldp leader means for voters. >> quite a turn of events. does this mean abe could once again be prime minister. >> well that's possible, i think. liberal democrats ruled japan for most of the time since world war ii. voters got tired and fed up. then they kicked the ldp out of power three years ago. the democrats took over. but then the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster last year

set the government back. the latest polls suggest that many japanese feel that the democrats have shown little leadership and that the ldp will win the most seats in the lower house in the next general election. so the new party leader, abe, could well become japan's next prime minister. >> so now as party leader what will abe be pushing for? >> abe has said that the democrats have undermined japan's diplomacy and security and they've eroded japan-u.s. alliance. he said this allowed china, south korea and russia to reassert their territorial claims to islands in the region. so i think he'll focus first on rebuilding ties with the u.s. abe has also criticized noda's energy policy, he said abolishing all nuclear plants is not the protocol and would hurt industry.

he also said monetary easing is needed in order to overcome deflation and a stronger yen. >> here in japan we have the new party, japan restoration party, being called the third poll of japanese politics. it's become very popular. how does abe view them? >> he's focusing on the every move of the new party carefully. many japanese voters have known party leader toru hashimoto for quite a while. he's the mayor of osaka. he has often commented on tv. he's a populist and a nationalist. the polls suggest that his party will win more seats than the ruling dpj in the general election. his party could be a strong rival for the ldp. but no party is expected to win a majority alone. so the new ldp leader abe may need to form a coalition with hashimoto's japan restoration party.

>> we know the election is looming, although we don't know when. what happens next? >> abe will have to put the process in motion and he'll have to put the pressure on prime minister noda to hold a general election i think. noda once promised to do this soon, but he's seen his polling numbers. he may feel it's not a good timing for an election. that said, he needs cooperation from the ldp to keep government services funded. abe could cooperate in exchange for noda's promise to dissolve the lower house. if that happens, you and i will be discussing some of these issues again. the foreign ministers of japan and china have held talks to discuss a bitter row between the two countries. their meeting follows japan's nationalization of the senkaku islands in the east china sea. china and taiwan claim the territory as their own.

the talks took place tuesday in new york on the sidelines of the u.n. general assembly. koichiro gemba had a one-hour meeting with his chinese counterpart yang jiechi. gemba said both sides are responsible for the peace and stability of east asia. he stressed the importance of the two countries maintaining communication and keeping a broader perspective. gemba also referred to a series of anti-japanese protestors on japanese companies operating in china. he says japan does not condone violence under any circumstances and demanded chinese officials take appropriate measures. china's state-run xinhua news agency reported on the talks, saying nationalizing the islands was an infringement of china's sovereignty. he called it a serious challenge to the international stability created after the end of world war ii. yang went on to say that 1.3 billion chinese are offended by the act and the country will not tolerate it. both ministers agreed to continue talks on the issue.

all-nippon airways says 40,000 seats reservations have been canceled for its regular flights linking japan and china amidst souring bilateral relations. >> translator: the cancellation of 40,000 seat bookings is definitely going to affect our business. we will use smaller aircraft for the time being, and shift our bigger planes to other routes. >> the cancellations are for flights on 17 routes from september to the end of november. ana's top executive said that demand from tourists will probably decline for awhile. he said that he would wait and see how the situation develops, suggesting that the airline will carefully consider whether to reduce or cancel flights. japan airlines, meanwhile, has

decided to cancel three round-trip flights linking japan and china per day starting october 10th. the transport ministry says four chinese airline companies have also canceled flights on four routes for september and october. the ministry says 56 charter flights by chinese carriers were canceled. japanese automakers with manufacturing sites in china are tapping on the brakes. three manufacturers are cutting production at their chinese plants. executives fear that anti-japanese sentiment will dent sales of their products. toyota, which has four plants in china, is shutting its plants in guangdong province and the city of tianjin for four days. nissan will halt production at all three of its plants three days starting on thursday. the automakers were already planning to suspend production for one week starting on monday in observance of china's national foundation day. suzuki and other japanese automaker has decided not to close its two plants in china. but the firm will shorten operating hours at its facility in chongqing city in the run-up

to the week-long holiday. japan's auto production in august rose just over 4% from a year earlier. but output may be affected from this month following the end of government subsidies for buyers of ecofriendly cars and soured relations between japan and china. eight major automakers say their total domestic output last month was about $698,000 units. that's a rise for an 11th straight month compared with the previous year. but the increase is smaller than previous months when a jump of over 10% was shown. four of the eight firms reported an increase from a year before. honda's output jumped over 23% and toyota saw an increase of nearly 4%. but nissan and suzuki both reported declines. google is hoping to have a self-driving car on the road within the next five years. drivers willfree from using both the steering wheel and the accelerator.

google made the announcement on tuesday at an event held jointly with the california state government. a car equipped with an automated driving system will get to the destination based on position data input in advance. the system analyzes huge amounts of maps and positioning data collected by google. california state governor jerry brown signed a bill that clears the testing of self-driving cars on public roads. this paves the way for these vehicles to run on the streets of california starting next year. nevada and florida have already given their approval. samsung electronics released its latest smartphone. galaxy note 2 in south korea. this comes amid more intense competition worldwide, especially from its main rival apple. the new model comes with a stylus, it lets users write letters and draw pictures on its 5 1/2 inch screen. the hand set is also expected to be released in 128 other countries including japan.

samsung had initially planned to begin sales of the galaxy note 2 in early october. but it launched the handset ahead of schedule, apparently after apple launched its iphone 5 last week. samsung is reportedly aiming to gain an edge over apple by adding more new models to its smartphone lineup.

south career's leader these -- he spoke and an armed forces ceremony wednesday in the south province. he said that differents of opinions in territorial claims. another issue is a row between japan and china over the islands. the south korean leader called for building stronger armed forces. the leaders of japan and columbia are pushing for stronger economic times.

they gave the green light for starting nuclear level instructions. japan's business leaders hope the epa will boost exports of bills and other products to columbia. more than 1.2 billion people have taken part in the first nationwide earthquake drill in new zealand. many students and company workers took part. the drill was based on a scenario involving a large quake occurring in early work hours. students crawled under their desks as instructed by teachers in the elementary school in the southern city of christ church.

europe's first north korean restaurant has closed after just eight months. a dispute between it's dutch emowner and it's employees -- the manager of the restaurant closed it earlier this month. he said he called police when staff tried to steal restaurant property last month. employees responded by trying to sue him over wages. the manager said he opened the restaurant to promote cultural experience but now he says that his workers were just using him to get visas, he says it's the last time he'll do business with north korea. volunteer firemen from the

evacuated district can't wait to return and get back on the job. but the evacuation order is still under veskt. however when the firefighters do return, they will be prepared. here's the story. >> reporter: as dawn breaks over the city, firefighters from nearby odaka practice one final time. they are about to take part in a skims competition in fukushima. he operates the water pump and he also directs the other members seeing to it that they could have --

>> reporter: onadao goes the extra mile not just for himself but for his late mentor. he used to head the local fire department, but in march 2011, the tsunami killed him while he was helping other residents escape. >> we placed his body on the back of a pick-up truck. i did the driving and we laid him on a few on the. >> he taught onada how to man the pumps and to make fine adjustments to the water pressure. >> translator: he was very passionate, he often told me to practice hard, if i was willing. but he also told me to get home

if i wasn't up for it. >> reporter: on the eve of the competition, o new yonada others took over. the tsunami swept away many houses and killed a lot of people in this coastal area. the disaster scene remains untouched, even though 1 1/2 years have gone by. the fire department paid their respects at his grave and asked for his support in the competition. the tournament finally gets underway.

teams win points by quickly melting down their target and moving with precision. with taniguchi's -- he pays attention to the water pressure. of the 14 companies that took part. onada's team came in fifth. >> translator: i practiced hard and gave 100% in the competition. just as taniguchi trained us to

do. i hope this helps bring us even closer together. >> reporter: the fire department showed their late fire chief what they can do. now they're determined to excel in protecting residents once everyone returns to onaka. people in japan's northeast are focused on overcoming the challenges of the 2011 disaster but it won't be easy. they have to rebuild homes, businesses, entire communities. we'll show you their struggles and their successes on the road ahead, every wednesday at 1:00 p.m. japan time here on news line. for the latest weather forecast, we have robert speda. robert? >> across northern japan yesterday, we did have a stationary boundary just off the

coast here. i want to talk about some severe weather that blew up here. video shows a funnel cloud blew through. the wind gusts from the storm did overturn three trucks, knocked over a tree as well which landed on the tracks of the rail line. some buildings were actually blown off. in addition to the wind gusts, houses were actually destroyed.

the islands are actually being impacted. very strong storm system, those wi7bd gustings actually well -- what's going to be causing it to move toward the east is that stakes area boundary right in here. a very well could keep that off the coast. plenty of showers as well. we're continuing to watch this storm system, the catastrophtro active. you can see that moisture coming in through here, this is really just showing you how much potential moisture is in the atmosphere, how much water vapor is there and one thing that stands out completely, look out how clear and defined that eye is. wirnd gusts of up to 288 kilometers per hour.

going into the latter part of the week, then shifting towards the northeast, running across the southwestern japanese islands including okinawa. you're going to be seeing a high of 25. severe weather here. in beijing at 23. now over towards europe, also seeing some severe weather across the british aisles, even across centrals. on the tail end of this front on the western portions of the iberian peninsula, you need the

rain, but so much rain in spain and portugal is going to cause the risk of flooding. here's a look at your extended forecast.

two cities in the netherlands are expressing their country's friendship with japan with flowers. they have dedicated a new type of tulip for those affected by

last year's earthquake and tsunami. evehard van der laan is in japan heading a trade mission to promote his city. the mayor revealed the new tulip is named tohoku after the affected area. a dutch commercial grower cultivated the stupid. it changes from orange to pink as it blooms. orange is the dutch national color. pink is associated with cherry blossoms, which the japanese love. van der laan and the mayor of amstel will visit the city on friday. they'll give bulbs to schoolchildren there. the dutch embassy plans to ship 11,000 more bulbs to sendai next year. >> i think that in the netherlands many people felt a lot of sorrow for the people of sendai, still do, of course. and this tulip can also be an expression of that. >> the netherlands has had close economic and cultural ties with japan for more than 400 years. it's the only european country that traded with the

endoshogunate. dutch people were raising funds for the victims of last year's disaster. we'll be back with more updates in 30 minutes. i'm gene otani in tokyo.