glad to have you. it's wednesday, july 20th, 9:00 a.m. in tokyo. twl come to "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi. typhoon ma-on made landfall in western japan and continues to batter the region with strong winds and heavy rain. we go to saki ochi for the latest information. >> once again today we are going to be talking about a lot of stormy weather impacting japan, and let's start with a look at some of the most recent footage of the storm system impacting southern sections of japan. this will be along the coastline in wakayama prefecture. still very high waves being seen and rivers, too are overflowing.

there have been reports of flooded homes, over 2,500 people have had to evacuate, injuries, too, have been widespread nearly 50 people reportedly injured from these storm systems, as those very strong, damaging winds have been causing quite a bit of destruction, and today, typhoon ma-on is still just about in the same area, the defining characteristic has been that slow speed at 15 kilometers per hour, considerable slower, usually 40 kilometers per hour so moves away at a much faster pace, not this time so it is going to be stormy again today for the next 24 hours, even more rainfall is expected, getting up to about 400 millimeters in this section of japan, for northern areas as well as down towards the south, too, talking about 150 toe 300 millimeters so it is going to be another very wet day, strong winds and high surf will also continue to threaten the area. and the bulk of the heavy rain should be moving away.

you want to continue to watch out for landslide risk as well as flooding risk in towards the end of this week. >> okay, we'll get back to you saki later. thanks for that. more news on damage caused by the typhoon. as of wednesday morning one person is missing and more than 50 people injured in western japan. rain clouds around the typhoon are bringing downmoers to western and eastern japan. in kochi prefecture record rainfall has topped 1,000 millimeters since sunday. many homes have been inundated in other parts of western japan. evacuations were ordered in both eastern and western japan. many evacuated voluntarily. the typhoon also has cut off electricity lines and affected domestic air services. "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan, post march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and

tsunami. "nuclear watch" brings you insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis and "the road ahead" examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline." the japanese government has revised the details of its plan to deal with the accident at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. the decision came at a meeting of the nuclear disaster task force attended by all cabinet ministers on tuesday. the task force concluded that the first stage of the plan, the stable cooling of the crippled reactors, was achieved on schedule in mid-july. it approved a change to the plan that was originally announced in april. the revision includes details of the second stage to be completed by next january and the next targets about three years after that. the second stage involves a sharp cut in radiation levels. under the updated plan, the government will carry out regular health checks on residents in fukushima prefecture for about 30 years. the test will include thyroid

cancer checks for children and measuring the internal radiation exposure of residents. the government also said it will start monitoring radiation levels in the evacuation zone and the 20 kilometer no entry zone earlier than planned. it will begin to consider lifting its evacuation orders for areas where safety is confirmed after the second stage is achieved. the government will also begin a safety assessment of radiation levels in areas where residents are now being advised to prepare to evacuate in case of an emergency. it will also use the results to consider lifting the advisory. some of the affected municipalities have already begun to prepare for a possible lifting of the evacuation advisories and other directives. officials in kawauichi village of checking radiation levels. they hope that evacuated residents will be able to return without anxiety. a nursery school in the village has been closed since the beginning of the crisis at the nuclear plant. staff members are now cleaning it up so that children can return soon. but some evacuees aren't sure if

they want to go back. hiroaki komatsu his wife and two children have been taking shelter in another city. he's concerned whether schools and medical care in the village will be fully restored. >> translator: i very much want to return to my hometown, but i have reservations about going back right now because there's nothing but uncertainties. >> the nuclear accident at fukushima daiichi prompted the government to mobilize the self-defense forces to help contain the crisis. the major general who commanded this unprecedented operation was no stranger to radiation. his parents experienced the atomic bombing of nagasaki in 1945. in an exclusive interview request nhk he explained how it felt to fight this invisible enemy. jun motors moto met him in camp asa ka in tokyo.

>> reporter: major general masato taira never imagined one day he would be in charge of containing a nuclear accident. at a base camp for all the organizations dealing with the accident, air self-defense units were ordered from all overjapan. as leader, taura faced a huge challenge. >> translator: they didn't know me, even though they were risking their lives under my command, and so they watched me very closely. >> reporter: for days after the quake and tsunami fukushima daiichi was in a critical situation, there have been explosions in the buildings of

units number one, three and four, and the mission was to cool down the reactors at all costs. but taura had complicated feelings related to his family's experience during the war. his parents were exposed to radiation after the united states dropped an atomic bomb on nagasaki in the closing days of world war ii. as he grew up in the city, taura as he grew up in the city p. he learned the terrible consequences of radiation on humans. he said this experience motivated him to join the self-defense forces. >> translator: i joined the sdf to ensure that japan wouldn't need nuclear weapons, and to be sure that such weapons wouldn't be used against japan. yet, after all these years, here i was having to fight against radiation. i felt that the situation was

extremely ironical. >> reporter: the operation to cool down the reactors faced challenge after challenge. self-defense force helicopters started dumping sea water on the reactors but more water was needed and there wasn't a moment to lose. the sdf decided to spray water from the ground. to do so, the troops had to get close to the reactor where they placed high levels of radiation. right after they came back exhausted to their base camp, they were ordered to go out again to cool another reactor whose exact status was still unknown. taura decided to lead the way. he donned a protective suit and made his way to the reactor. he measured radiation levels and returned safely to the base. >> translator: it's a bit

strange, but my fears were overcome by a feeling of responsibility of having to accomplish my duty. there wasn't any space for fear. >> reporter: taura's example boosted the morale of his troops. in the end, they succeeded in spraying water over all the reactors and prevented the situation from getting worse. on may 3rd, the sdf unit was disbanded. taura is back in tokyo but commanded the operation at fukushima. taura says he learned a lot from his mission to fight radiation. not only has the experience

reinforced his identity as a child of atomic bomb survivors it has also enabled him to give it clear message to people who have to overcome the fear of radiation. >> translator: first and foremost, i want them to approach their fears realistically. one should avoid both being oversensitive, careless in the face of such an invisible threat. if you take protective measures in accordance with each local radiation, then the mission can be fully executed. >> reporter: 66 years have passed since the atomic bombs were dropped on japan. with a silent prayer for peace in his heart, taura will come to fight against radiation until the day when the nuclear crisis is brought under control. jun motors moto, nhk, tokyo. let's look at the latest in

business news with ai uchida. there was a big jump in stock markets. >> european and u.s. markets up overnight. new york stocks surged over 200 points tuesday, marking their largest one-day gain this year. the dow jones industrial average finished the day at 12,587, up 202 points or 1.6%. the key index opened sharply higher following a robust earnings report from ibm. market sentiment received a further boost after president barack obama expressed support for a bipartisan proposal to cut budget deficits. stocks weren't the only thing that rose. u.s. housing starts in june jumped from the previous month. attention is now focused on whether the housing market which is a major component of the u.s. economy continues on a full recovery track. the commerce department says housing starts stood at an annualized 629,000 units, that's

up over 14% from may. the figure is far above the market expectation of 570,000 units. building permits which are an indicator of the prospects for the housing market also rose 2.5%. and now let's take a look at japanese markets and to see how stocks in tokyo are greeting the rally on wall street, we have emily wang at the tokyo stock exchange. emily, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, ai. markets seem to be regaining confidence today, breaking above that key psychological 10,000 mark. as we mentioned we saw some key earnings results out of major tech companies in the u.s., not only ibm but also apple, which came out with their results just after the closing bell on wall street. these earnings results seem to be a key thing for traders in tokyo today as well, especially for high tech shares. before i go into details, let's take a look at the numbers right now. nikkei average still above that 10,000 mark, it's trading right above 10,030, with a

triple-digit gain. it is the first time since july 11th that it's hitting above that 10,000 mark. these gains come after stocks in the s. bounced back overnight on the back of solid earnings results and the rise in u.s. housing starts. on the other hand a different picture for financial houses with results from goldman sachs falling short of market expectations and the bank of america saying it posted a quarterly loss of $8.8 billion but that didn't dampen overall sentiment. dow jones ending at 12,587, posting a 200 point gain. tech heavy nasdaq closing at 2,826, it is up over 2%. now the sentiment improving that also lent support to the dollar and euro both rising slightly higher against the yen, dollar/yen trading above 79 yen level. euro/yen trading at 112 and it is higher than 111 that we saw

late hour trading on tuesday. one factor to watch is tech giant apple's results. the company posted a record quarterly net profit which more than doubled to $7.3 billion in the april to june period. shares of apple rose over 6% at one point during afterhour trading so we'll be keeping an eye on how those results affect tech shares in tokyo today. overall investors are concerned over the u.s. and european debt issues but for today markets seem to be focusing on how individual companies are performing and so far, the picture looks encouraging. that's all from me right now. back to you in the studio. >> thanks a lot for that, emily, that was our reporter emily wang from the tokyo stock exchange. continuing on with japan, toyo that motor plans to boost production in disaster-struck northeastern japan and help the region get back on its feet. >> translator: our company is

determined to contribute to reconstruction efforts in northeastern japan, through auto production, which involves a wide range of supporting industries. >> the automaker plans to build the first engine plant in the region at taiwa town in miyagi prefecture and produced 100,000 engines a year for compact cars. the plant will begin operations as early as the end of next year. it will allow toyota to complete the whole process of car manufacturing in the region from producing key components to assembling vehicles. department store sales in japan rose in june for the first time since the march 11th disaster. the japan department stores association says sales at 255 stores across the country edged up 0.3% year on year last month to some $6 billion. the increase is attributed to brisk sales of summer clothing

due in part to the government's so-called cool biz campaign to safe energy. japanese people are also asked to hold down air conditioning this summer because of electricity shortages stemming from the ongoing nuclear power plant accident. the association notes that some consumers apparently began loosening their purse strings to buy jewelry and other high priced goods. the industry group says, however, that it will closely monitor consumer confidence especially in light of the yen's strength in the recent decline in stocks. and that is all from me here in business. back to catherine. >> thanks very much, ai. foreign ministers from the association of southeast asian nations have adopted a joint statement calling for the creation of rules to peacefully resolve territorial disputes in the south china sea. the statement was adopted at the minister's meeting on the indonesian island of bali tuesday. it urges asean and china to draw

up guidelines for the code of conduct for the south china sea through high level negotiations. asean is to present a draft of the code of conduct at a senior working level meeting with china on against. >> there are certainly tensions and tension, but we can galvanize or turn all of this positive energy towards problem-solving outlook. >> but the asean foreign ministers remained apart on details of the guidelines, including whether the regions to be covered by them should be clarified. some asean member states are expressing concern about negotiating with china without full agreement in the group. china has warned that it might try to stop a plane carrying philippine lawmakers from approaching the disputed spratly islands in the south china sea. a group of philippine lower house members will visit the philippine occupied pagasa

island in the disputed area by jet on wednesday. they also plan to inspect other islands including the chinese controlled mischief reef. china's ambassador to the philippines visited the file peen foreign ministry on tuesday and launched a protest against the planned trip. liu warned people stationed on mischief reef may take measures to protect the spratly islands because they have not been warned the group plans to fly at low altitude over the spratly islands. he said the government should take responsibility for the lawmakers' actions. the philippine government plans to allow the group to plan to carry out the visit. the u.s. navy has allowed vietnamese guests to tour one of the aegis equipped destroyers participating in the two countries' joint maritime exercise. that's the maritime rescue exercise. vietnam and other southeast asian nations are locked in

territorial disputes with china over islands in the south china sea. the u.s. and vietnamese navies have been conducting the drills since last friday. on tuesday, vietnamese guests were invited aboard the "uss preble." they were guided through the pilot house, control center and helicopter pad. >> we look forward to doing more of those exchanges even over the next coming days. thank you. >> observers say the tour of the destroyer is aimed at underscoring the u.s. navy's plan to step up its activities in regional waters. a taiwanese defense report says china has deployed the world's first anti-ship ballistic missiles designed to travel from space. taiwan's defense ministry released its biannual national defense report on tuesday. the report says that china

deployed a small number of 21-d middle range ballistic missiles last year, meant to prevent carriers from entering the strait in case of conflict. missiles are designed to travel from space to sink aircraft carriers and other targets. their port also points out in the future china is preparing to deploy aircraft carriers to the south china sea in an attempt to reduce u.s. clout over disputes there. >> translator: the south china sea and pacific ocean are part of our territory. we'll never give up our sovereignty nor cooperate with china. there is no room for compromise. >> china has vowed to thoroughly crack down on movements seeking independence for tibet the vice president made the pledge on tuesday at a major ceremony in the capital of the tibetan

autonomous region. >> translator: we are here to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the peaceful liberation of tibet. >> xi condemned the dalai lama. the vice president stressed china has to completely smash any plot that encourages tibetan independence and jeopardizes national unity. state-run media are covering the events to commemorate the 60th anniversary but the chinese authorities banned foreign tourists from visiting from late june to early august. local residents say the city is

under tight security. aung san suu kyi attended the martyr's day ceremony in yangon for the first time in nine years. aung san suu kyi attended the government sponsored ceremony on tuesday for her father, independence leader general aung san, assassinated 64 years ago. she also attended a memorial gathering held by her national league for democracy with about 2,000 supporters. aung san suu kyi was kept under house arrest for seven and a half years and was released last november. myanmar's government warned in june her political activities could cause great confusion.

welcome back to your weather update. the center of the activity has been all those clouds moving in towards japan, the typhoon. but other areas have been picking up a couple showers. mostly they have in eastern china. got a low here moving in towards the north. that's been producing scattered showers here. also a lot of tropical moisture found in the south, mainly along the coastline. but there are going to be pockets of heavier showers to watch out for. scattered showers will also spread across the indochina peninsula. intensifying at times, more towards parts of mian more. then that rain seeps up into western sections of china as well. for the philippines, scattered showers and thunderstorms again today. same goes for taiwan, as for those temperatures, 32 is your high in manila. 33 expected in taipei. 34 for shanghai, quite hot. meanwhile, only 28 for tokyo. going to be another cloudy and stormy wet day. luckily on the cool side. over towards europe, things are really picking up activity wise

for central and eastern sections of europe. widespread area here looking at the threat of thundershowers. gusty weather. just a lot of stormy weather to develop over the course of tonight and into wednesday. things are really going to be looking a lot wetter as we look towards the black sea region. also showers are going to start seeping northward into southern areas of sweden as well as the baltic states. also southern norway or most of norway looking at lingering showers. then the new system coming off the atlantic that will sweep past the british aisles, and move on into france. as for those temperatures, on the cool side out west. only in the teens for london and paris. dropping into the lower 20s for berlin and vienna as well, but out east, still very, very warm conditions. 31 in kiev and up to 40 degrees in athens. now let's get a look at your three-day outlook.

as saki mentioned earlier a large and strong typhoon is bringing torrential rain to many areas of japan. the meteorological agency says typhoon ma-on struck japan early wednesday morning, traveling east at a speed of 15 kilometers per hour. maximum wd speed is 126 kilometers per hour near the center. as of wednesday morning, one person is missing and more than 50 people injured in 16 prefectures in western japan. rain clouds around the typhoon are bringing downpours to western and eastern japan. in kochi prefecture, record rainfall has topped 1,000 millimeters since sunday. many homes have been inundated in other parts of western japan. evacuations were ordered in eastern and western japan. many evacuated voluntarily.

the typhoon cut off electricity lines and affected domestic air services. one of the most famous buildings in new york was part of celebrations after japan won the world cup in women's soccer. the top of the empire state building had been lit up in the colors of the japanese and u.s. flags ahead of the match. after japan's victory, all four sides were bathed in the red and white of the japanese flag. >> the game was both of the teams were really strong. i think japan did great so they deserve it. >> i think it's wonderful. you know, for such good news to be out there for the japanese people, because it hasn't been good, so this is, this is something that they can smile about now. >> very nice gesture there. and that concludes this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.