welcome to "newsline." i'm shery ahn. the united states says israel and the palestinians will have direct talks early next month for the first time since december 2008. >> on behalf of the united states government, i've invited israeli prime minister netanyahu and palestinian authority abbas to meet on september 2nd in washington, d.c. >> hillary clinton said they'll discuss issues including the

borders of a future palestinian state. and the political status of jerusalem. she said she hoped for an agreement within a year. israel and the palestinians began u.s.-brokered indirect talks in may. the talks were the first following massive israeli military operations in gaza. palestinian opposition to israeli construction of settlements in occupied territories has prevented them from meeting face-to-face. the middle east peace process is one of president obama's foreign policy priorities. the agreement to hold direct talks is a diplomatic achievement for obama ahead of u.s. midterm elections in november. but the talks may break down if israel goes ahead with plans to restart its settlement construction late next month. japan's main ruling party has a leadership election coming up on september 14th, and back room maneuvering is already under way. the leader of the democratic

party will also be prime minister. current party leader naoto kan wants to hang on to both job, but a senior figure in the party says he'll soon ask ichiro ozawa to run against him. kenji yamaoka is a close associate of ozawa. he said it should not be a mere popularity contest at a time when japan needs a cabinet that can deal with urgent issues. >> meanwhile, foreign minister katsuya okada said the last leadership election was not long ago, and that a change so soon would not be in the national interest. ichiro ozawa has been tainted by alleged involvement in a financial scandal.

the foreign minister thinks he would be a liability as leader. >> ozawa will be indicted if a prosecution inquest panel decides for the second time that he should be charged with falsifying a political funds report. the japanese self-defense forces will soon be joining relief efforts in flooded parts of pakistan. japanese defense minister ordered the deployment of helicopters and personnel after a request from the pakistani government. the helicopters will be used to carry flood survivors and aid supplies. the japanese units start flying out on saturday and will be based about a month in the central pakistani city of motun.

that was badly damaged by flooding in late july. but the security situation there is relatively stable. an advanced team of about 20 japanese personnel left for pakistan on thursday to make preparations. tokyo's haneda airport has shown off its fourth runway as it prepares to transform itself into an international hub from october. on friday, the media saw the new 2500-meter offshore runway on the airport's southeastern side. two-thirds of the runway is on reclaimed land, the rest is on a pier over the mouth of a river. haneda is preparing to operate full scale international services for the first time in 32 years. it's handled mainly domestic flights since narita airport opened for international flights in 1978. from the end of october, haneda will serve 14 international routes covering asia, the united states and europe.

authorities in tokyo have discovered that another person believed to be one of the city's centenarians actually died nine years ago. police found her remains at an apartment where her eldest son is living. officials in tokyo's otawa ward are trying to locate the woman who is believed to be 104 years old. police searched her son's apartment on thursday and found a knapsack containing skeletal remains that most likely belonged to his mother. police say the 64-year-old man told them his mother died of an illness in 2001, but he didn't file a death report. police say the man has also admitted to receiving his mother's pension payments for about three years after her death. he allegedly pocketed more than $1500 every four months. municipalities across japan are now urgently checking on the whereabouts of their oldest

citizens. it follow last month's discover of a mum mafied remains of someone thought to be tokyo's oldest man. he would have been 111 years old but it is believed he died some 30 years ago. an exporter of high grade japanese beef is getting ready to file for bankruptcy. the industry has been hit hard by foot-and-mouth disease outbreak as well as the recent depreciation of the yen. a lawyer for the company says it's preparing to file for bankruptcy protection in court in early september. the company has already notified its creditors of the plan. it was founded in 1999 and opened offices in the united states, singapore and dubai and had been growing rapidly. authorities say the company had a 70% share of the exports of japanese beef to the u.s. but the export of japanese beef has been banned since an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the southern

prefecture of miyazaki in late april. japan exported more than 670 tons of beef last year to regions including the u.s. and hong kong. the u.s. dollar is continuing to weaken. what are the reasons and likely impact of this trend? for analysis we spoke to ethan harris, head of north american economics at bank of america merrill lynch global research. >> i think the strength in the yen versus the dollar reflects three things. first, clearly u.s. data has weakened a lot, and i think that's causing investors to pull away from the dollar a bit. second, i think the fed seems much more than many thought so there's expectations that the interest rates could come down further in the u.s. that's also weakened the dollar.

then finally i think there's a lot of talk about china redeploying some of its reserves into the yen and out of dollars. and that's probably helped support the yen and hurt the dollar. i don't think this is a big shock to the u.s. economy. i think on the margin a weakness in the dollar is good for the u.s. economy. but the movement we've seen from the u.s. perspective, you know, really doesn't change the outlook for the u.s. we are still in a very weak growth picture for the united states. >> that was ethan harris, head of north america economics at bank of america merrill lynch global research. now, let's take a look at the latest market figures.

now here's a look at the world weather forecast.

and that's all for this edition of until approximately. i'm shery ahn. thank you for watching. it won't cut. what a chore. i hate this. it's so much work. so how do they do it at places like supermarkets? they sell all kinds of precut ingredients like meat, fish and vegetables. >> what makes all these convenient food products possible? today's main attraction. food slicers.

from cubing meat to slicing scallion scallions, to dicing onions. all done expertly. these machines cut up huge quantities at amazing speed. one company in osaka is the japanese leader in making and selling automated food slicers. since its founding in 1955, this company has responded to consumer needs with a series of unique specialized machines that have helped people enjoy countless meals. the company president has made it his mission to replicate the techniques of food preparation professionals. >> mechanizing the techniques of food prep pros is our main mission. >> one of the toughest tasks in japanese cuisine is deboning

pike eel. this company was the first in japan to mekennize the process. the machine leaves the skin intact as it cuts, just the way a pro does it. and that's not all. >> 73, 77, 72. they're all around 70 grams. >> instantly making each slice of fish weigh the same. how's it done? today, we uncover the secrets of a company that says it can make a machine to cut any food. >> the saga started long ago and the tradition still flies high. enterprises powered by savvy osaka merchant firms. look up in the sky, its a's the legendary osaka power pot. business legends, the osaka way.

>> i have to admit. >> yes. >> i thought those precut vegetables at the supermarket were being chopped up by hand somewhere in a pack. >> let's welcome today's guest, keieki sasaki, president of yoshii zumy corporation. please join us. thank you for coming. >> welcome. >> nice to be here. >> your machines can cut up anything in any way? >> that's right. whatever people eat gets cut up, anything at all, our machines can cut it up. >> wow. >> wow. so whenever we eat out, we're probably benefiting from their food slicers. >> yeah, even today. you're probably eating something that was cut by our machines. >> really? i never knew. today's first power pot point is pro technique. it's all in the angle. >> sasaki's company is based in osaka prefecture.

first, he takes us on a tour of the showroom. >> all these machines are amazing. >> yes. >> so far the company has developed more than 60 kinds of food slicers, all designed for specific client needs. this machine juliennes cabbage. >> here it comes. wow, incredible. look how thinly and neatly it's been sliced. >> that's right. it's cut into 0.8 millimeter strips. the big selling point is how thin and fluffed up the cabbage is. a lot of beef bowl shops use this machine. >> and here's another machine. >> yes. this one chops carrots into chunks. >> oh. >> this was built for a company that makes hospital meals. the company requested a machine that would help produce appetizing meals.

the hospital has to calculate calories, too, so the machine makes sure every chunk of carrot weighs the same. this fish slicer churns out a neat stack of thin slices. it speeds up the sushi-making process for sushi go-around chains. whenever a new food slicer is ordered, one designer is put in charge of the project. the company's engineering expertise can handle even niche applications. that's how it has won more than 1,000 clients and sales of about $11 million u.s. per year. what else has sasaki battled to accomplish? >> machines that replicate the swift and skillful cutting work of food prep professionals. >> which model of slicer comes closest to replicating pro knife

work? we visited this food processing center to see it in action. >> here it is. this is the machine. wow. look how fast it churns the stuff out. >> this is the company's latest and greatest fish slicer. it races through its work at a speed of 2,800 slices per hour. the machine makes it look easy, but in fact, it replicates many techniques used by food prep pros. first, the cutting edge. the blade is at the same steel used in kitchen knives hardened by high temperature tempering. then it is carefully honed to give it the kind of edge found

on professionals' knives. ♪ the machine's blade replicates a technique called draw cutting, a swift, efficient way to cut that keeps the cellular texture of the food intact preserving freshness. let's compare fish using the draw cut technique with fish cut roughly. the fish that wasn't draw cut is leaking juices. the cellular structure of the flesh is broken down and that causes loss of freshness. to perform draw cutting, the slicer employs a circular blade. as it rotates at high speed, it makes a draw cut across the fish. in this way, it preserves the freshness of the fish.

next, the seasoned eye of a pro. even this same species of fish can come in a range of sizes and shapes. food prep pros can judge in one glance how many slices to make from each fish. here, that seasoned eye is replaced by a ccd camera. for example, suppose the weight of each slice is set at 70 grams. first, the camera takes an image of the cut end, a computer measures its cross-sectional area. then it calculates how thick the next slice should be to make a weight of 70 grams. the fish is pushed forward by just that amount.

it takes just a tenth of a second to capture the image and calculate each slice width with minimal error. >> it waist 73 grams. >> that's right. >> 72 grams. 72 grams? almost exactly the same. >> finally, attractive presentation. great attention is given to the angle at which the fish is sliced. the shape of the filet varies. it's different near the tail tore belly. so the blade is kept flatter near the tail and gradually shifts to a different angle as it moves towards the belly. above, fish sliced at the same angle all through. below, fish sliced with a varying angle.

varying the angle gives even slices from near the tail a bigger, more attractive look. >> this slice shows off the flesh clearly. but on this one, you can hardly see the flesh. if customers can't see the flesh, they can't judge its quality. >> it's amazing the difference you get just by varying the angle. >> yes. >> this slicer that can make cuts like food prep pros has been adopted by supermarkets across japan. it boosts quality and efficiency. >> it allows us to consistently slice fish with the length and cross section that make it easy to present the product very attractively. >> the company's strength is its ability to fulfill specific needs with high level engineering expertise that can replicate the techniques of food prep pros.

>> when i go to the supermarket, i often buy cuts of fish, but i had no idea that such meticulous engineering was behind it. >> yes. great job. >> thank you. >> that one we just saw, the salmon slicer, does it only do salmon? >> no, far from it. it cuts sable fish, japanese amber jack, toothfish, all kinds of fish. >> i saw it. i saw it slicing sable fish, too. >> in actual use? >> yes. sablefish has a lot of fat. when you grill it, it shrinks up, so the slices are cut thicker. the machine can handle all that. >> it can do different kinds of slicing? >> yes. such as salmon for lunch box meals. that is sliced a little differently than fish meant for grilling. >> how is it different? >> for lunch boxes. you want the slice to expose as

much of the fish flesh as possible. look at this big slab of salmon. >> of course. >> that's the impact you want. so you cut the salmon at a really deep angle to show it off. >> like take a look at this salmon. >> that's important. >> so in the old days a food prep pro did all that shising by hand. >> exactly. it took a lot of concentration. now a part-time worker at a supermarket's food processor centering turn it on and voila, sliced fish. >> do you get any other requests for tough machines to make? >> oh, yes. well, maitake mushrooms. you grasp one in your hand and tear it into strips like this. clients have asked us to mekennize that or broccoli. it's cut by hand or with knives. companies with high quality want machines to do that. >> a broccoli chopper. >> that's a tough one. we haven't quite managed it yet. >> but you feel it's important to meet specific demands like

that. >> as a small business, we focus on niche markets. >> you really do things a big business can't. >> our machines are niche products, no big company could make them. we sell 100 units or 200 units. a big company couldn't make money on such low volume. >> it must be tough to establish budgets. you have one person handle the whole design down to the blade? >> right. our customers are exacting but our designers are, too, they're exacting in how they build the machine. they're determined to get it right. >> i see. >> sasaki-san's company has innovative slicing machines, but they had to overcome many challenges along the way.

>> the company was founded in 1955. it started out in the business of heat treating blades. it made its first foray into food slicers in response to a request from a nearby noodle restaurant chain. business was booming for the noodle house. it had become a challenge to slice the huge amount of scallions they needed. what the restaurant chain wanted was an automated chopper. and so sasaki's company developed japan's first scallion-slicing machine. it was a simple device, just spinning blades. the worker would push scallions through by hand. but the machine was a big hit. selling more than 1,000 units just in western japan. there was a big demand for food slicers. so the company rose to the challenge of developing them.

supermarkets and restaurant chains were a major driver of growth. it boosted demand for food processing equipment. sasaki's company developed all kinds of food slicers and enjoyed continuing growth. but then, they hit a huge wall. this salmon slicer was being sold in around 1991, but other firms launched competing products and grabbed market share. one day a representative of a supermarket chain visited the company. he asked the company to develop a slicer that could slice fish the way a food prep pro does. sasaki pluondered the request. >> unless you can constantly

deliver what customers demand, you can't survive in business. >> sasaki assigned this man, then in his seventh year with the company, to design such a slicer. >> i thought to myself, i've been asked to make quite a machine. how in the world am i going to design it? >> yamamoto's challenge was to make a machine that cuts salmon like a po. first, he researched circular blades that could make draw cuts. after two years or so, the first prototype was ready. day after day, he bought salmon at the market to test the machine, but in test after test, the machine failed to cut accurately. yamamoto would trudge home late carrying badly sliced salmon to his less than delighted family.

their freezer was stuffed with salmon with no room for more. meal after meal, salmon was all they ate. >> every day i would bring home salmon. at first my family ate it. but after a while, my kids got sick of it and so did i. we started to hate salmon. >> this went on for two years with yamamoto unable to figure out the problem. until one day. as always, yamamoto was reviewing video of the slicing. this time, however, he noticed a small detail. >> i noticed the fish was shifting, just as it was being sliced. >> the problem lay with the clamp that holds the fish down while each cut is made. the clamp only pressed down on part of the fish, leaving a gap.

that allows the fish to be yanked downward by the impact of the blade. this was enough to cause inaccurate cutting.iijj