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jotldeloalrnive tealnese technology.al wk gether to promote the recycling of used rare earth metals. the two governments ho to sign a deal after a bilateral summit later this week.thovnments wante plan to hold t level meeting by the end of this year. chinese authorities went to grt length to ensure security at a soccer match at the asiano the country. japan played against china. e match too place amid strained bilateralowg a collisi japanese trawl and a chinese boat. a large number ofpledea the stadium ahead of monday's match in the southernprovince. 200 japanese supporters were tohe stands from a separate te. they were surrounded by police and organizing officials and seated away from chinese supporters. japan won the game, 3-0.

after the match, the japanese spectators left the stadium on three buses provided by the chinese authorit the japanese consulate general in guangzhou has expressed relief that the match ended without in. it uing japase athletes and visitors to exercise caution until the end of the asian games on november 27th. an nhk poll shows that prime minister naa n's approval rating has plungeded to 30% rating, the lowest ofis administration. anything lower often triggers a

resignation or election. his approval rating has fallen 17 points since the previous poll. the sarol rating rose to 51%. almost half respondents cited a lack of leadership. s cabinet got poor marks for handling of diplomatic disputes. 82% disapproved of the japanese reon to the chinese trawler incident. 68% disapprove of the financial scandal with ichowara. 23% said they supported the democratic. rlr,e spoke to our

political commentator. >> one big reason for kan's unpopularity seems to be theay pre minister kan handled the diplomatic incidents with china and russia, right? >> that's right. many japanese believe tthe government lacks diplomatic experience and was weak in responding to challenges from russia and china. they agree that government cked down when beijing complained about the detention of the chinese captain involved in the collisioneahe senkaku islands. and the chinese premier's refusal to tk to kan reinforced that japan is not taken seriously. and the collision alsoevle poor security management by kan's administration. kan seemed to want to mollify the chinese government by keeping the video out of the public eye.

steehe russian president made the first-ever visit to the japanese islands. many call for poor intelligence on what russia was going to do. >> on the domestic front, many japanese don't seem to be tiiewi the way that kan hand izawa, the party's power broker. >> that's right. many aretill suspicious of izawa's role. kan has not stressed his rule in front of the diet. >> of course, if kan cannot regain public support, he will be forced to resign or call an election in the lower house,

right? >> right. the governing coalition does not have a majority in the upper house. it cannot passills who help from the opposition. but no opposition party is going to cooperate with an unpopular prime minister. kan might be cornereded sometime next spring. that's when his government's bills could be rejected. >> is there any way left for kan to regain prime minister support? >> he must be bold and should challenge ozawa. he must understand that the people's will comes first. he wants to have summit talks with china and russia on the sidelines of the upcoming epic meeting in yokohama this week. he hopes to set out japan's stance and win back domestic support by appearing decisive. but the only effective way out of the dual dilemmas may be to enlist the support of the united

states. fortunately for kan, the obama administration has shown a willingness to help. >> thanks. nhk world's political commentator. japan's current account surplus in september was up by 24.3% from a year earlier. the rise is due to an increase in exports and marks the first increase in two months. the finance ministry released its preliminary report on tuesday. japan's current account surplus for september stood at $24.2 billion, up 24.3% from a year ago. this is mainly due to a rise in exports of autos and steel to asian countries. as a result, the trade surplus has increased $1.1 billion, up by 53.2% from last year. meanwhile, the income surplus was $14.5 billion, that's up 9.4% compared to that of a year earlier.

gold prices hit a new high overnight in new york, topping the $1,400 mark ever. this makes concerns that the federal reserve's monetary easing may force inflationary measures. at one point on monday, gold futures gained $100 or over 8% during the past month and a and a half. after reaching the $1,300 range in early september. speculators are pushing up the market. risk-averse investors took their cue from renewed fiscal problems in europe. japanese low-cost carrier skymark airlines said it will buy sky bus a-380s it plans to launch in 2014. this is the first time airbus sold a-380 jets in japan. skymark said it reached a basic

agreement to buy up six jetliners from airbus. it is the world's largest passenger aircraft with 525 seats. si it hopes to new the new jetliners to expand its services. the firm says it decided on the purchase because the model is cost effective with its long travel capability and huge passenger capacity. the country's major airlines have not purchased any airbus a-380s as they are uncertain of their economic viability. qantas suspended operations last week due to engine trouble. skymark dismissed concerns and said the company will safety before using the aircraft. a new website that provides home electronic aflinppliances low prices is gaining popularity.

ec current is gaining popularity. it's the first of its kind. it's captivating consumers with good prices and quick service. >> reporter: yukio, who lives in tokyo, is a regular customer of this online shopping site. an air cleaner she bought just yesterday is now being delivered to her home. >> translator: i can't wait to turn it on. so far, she's bought more than ten items from the site, including a tv, game consoles, an air conditioner, a refrigerator, a microwave, a bread-making machine and a rice cooker. >> translator: they respond so fast. when you click on the purchase button, you immediately get the bank payment details.

payment is confirmed quickly and the product is delivered right away. i'm so happy with this service. >> reporter: the online shopping site, ec current, is operated by a venture firm founded 11 years ago. the firm is growing rapidly with annual sales of more than $300 million. the company's selling point is low price. the staff constantly check a leading price comparison site. they frequently adjust their prices bases on this information, making sure they're in the top five on the low price list. >> translator: we're trying hard to get placed at the top of the list. if the customers don't see our prices, they won't buy anything. >> reporter: the secret behind the company's ability to sell products at low prices is their

large amount of stock, purchased in cash, directly from manufacturers. in negotiations with the massage chair manufacturer, the firm asks for a large discount with the promise that payment will be made quickly. >> translator: what's the retail price? >> 49,800 yen. >> translator: toots why it hasn't sold. it has to be lowered to 48,000 yen. >> reporter: the company succeeded in getting the manufacturer to lower the price 20%. >> translator: we had to make a compromise. we had the advantage of getting paid in cash the following month. >> reporter: the website prides itself on delivering products faster than its competitors.

to do that, the firm built a 10,000 square meter distribution center outside tokyo, operations began in may. the center always stocks 10,000 varieties of 100,000 items. orders come in constantly. the center can handle up to 5,000 orders per day. unlike most of their competitors, the firm can instantly access products from their huge amount of stock. they're also trying to set up a system whereby product ordered by 6:00 in the evening will be delivered the following morning. >> translator: our distribution center is ready to ship in ten to 15 minutes. we feel confident we're providing incredibly low prices with the highest possible level of service available. we're constantly improving our features and we hope to grow

much bigger in the future. >> cheap and good service always sound good to the consumer. here are the latest market figures. japanese forests have been littered with trees that have been cut down but not hauled away. the trees are cleared to thin

the forest, but no one removes the wood because lumber prices have dropped. now a prefecture has come up with a plan to make use of the wood and revive the local community. >> reporter: 8,200 people live in the town of chizu. logging cedar trees is the town's main industry. but most trees cut down are left to rot. that's because many people in the forest industry are leaving. too old to work. also, the thin trees don't bring in much money. >> translator: even the people who own trees abandoned their own timber because of prices so low. not many people go into the woods and take care of the logs. that's why our forest is in such bad shape. >> reporter: a residence committee decided to try

restoring the forest. their plan puts the wasted timber to use and at the same time revives the local community. first, those taking part in the scheme haul lumber to the committee. then it's shipped to a factory where it's processeded into wood chips and other byproduct. participants receive $73 of store credit for each metric ton of lumber they bring in, about twice the wood's commercial value. the town and the npo make up the difference. participants can spend the credits at local stores taking part in the project. >> translator: we hope to share the benefits of the woods and revive the economy of the whole town. >> reporter: local stores that lost customers to big retailers

have high hopes for this project. the committee members go into the shopping district, asking retailers to take part. >> translator: i think this is good for everyone. >> reporter: then on the first day -- trucks loaded with lumber wind their way to the depot. the sellers either own forest land or have received permission to cut down the trees. on the first day alone, the committee takes in about 20 tons. in return, it gives out store credits based on the lumber's weight.

one participant wastes no time spending his tokens, worth about $12 each. >> translator: i was able to buy all this working just a little. now i can have a big party with my friends. i'm really happy. >> translator: i'm hoping that the residents will realize that by removing lumber, they can help their local community. >> reporter: the project is off to a promising start. if it continues like this, the quality of the forest will improve and local business will pick up.

hi, there. welcome back to your world weather update. in east asia, looking at nice, clear conditions across a lot of china as well as the indochina peninsula. for the korean peninsula as well. in the sea of japan, we have this low pressure system that will be moving in towards japan today. by tonight, it works its way right across hokkaido. it will be producing a lot of windy weather throughout the day today. you can see these lines spaced very close together. that shows how windy this system is. strong winds and highways will impact coastal areas along the sea of japan here as well as producing quite a bit of rainfall. this will likely include some stormier weather. thundershowers will also be a possibility throughout the day and into the evening. down towards the southeast, meanwhile, still a lot of tropical activity continues. showers will continue to hit vietnam, especially central

sections, looking at heavier outbreaks. mainland peninsula looking at ongoing showers. sri lanka well under rain clouds. for highs, 32 in manila. the same for bangkok. 21 in shanghai. warming up to 20 in tokyo. for the united states, it is going to be a pretty much calm day for the most part. we do have this system moving into the rockies. that is, however, packing quite a punch, bringing in a lot of cold air. that will lead to snow for the rockies. mountainous areas looking at winter storm warnings. snow spreading in the overnight hours before tapering off for a moment. more wet weather going into the pacific coast line. that will be spreading more snows for the sierras and

spreading into the rockies later on this week. towards the east-northeast, remnant moisture with that storm system. it should start calming down over the course of tuesday. highs raising up to 13 degrees. milder for chicago at 19. 26 degrees for houston. as for europe today, it will be a pretty messy it day. a lot of clouds covering the region. this uplow bringing in rains and winds. it will affect areas throughout the mediterranean and the balkans. heavy rain spots showing up here too. that could include a couple of strong thundershowers. rain will move into the northern tier of europe as well. things could turn icier for finland and sweden. in the east, it will be quite warm today. fairly mild conditions. 10 for moscow and 10 in warsaw. any rainfall you see here won't

be turning into snow most likely. that is a look at your weather for now. here is your three-day outlook.

that concludes this edition of "newsline." we'll be back in half an hour with the latest news and weather. thanks for joining us on nhk world.