more than 2,000 got sick and died. evacuees from the hard exist hit areas are living in temporary housing or rebted apartments. workers have not been able to keep up with the demand of public housing for those displaced. only 1.6% of the planned units have been completed. the japanese government is stepping up efforts to deal with radioactive water that leaked from a storage tank at the noouk lar plant. a panel of ministers held the meeting thursday to discuss ways pof dealing with the problem. >> we are gathering all the available knowledge from experts both at home and abroad to create an effective solution to the contaminated water issue. >> the panel has decided to identify risk factors and compile necessary counter

measures before the end of this year. the government has already decided to spend about $470 million to change contaminated water. officials from japan's fishery agencies are calling for talks with the counter part in south korea. they want to discuss a ban on imports of seafood and infrastructures. japanese fishermen are upset about the decision. a top representative from the country's biggest administration met the fishery chief on tuesday. >> we want to ask the government's effort and support so the ban will be lifted as soon as possible. >> he says information on the safety of japanese seafood should be made public as soon as pochblt fishery agency chief,onko says japan has urged south korea to reconsider the

ban. he says japanese officials want to hold working level talks. government officials are struggling with decontamination work in areas near the plant. it will take longer than expected in seven of eleven municipalities. the work will continue after the initial deadline at the end of next march. officials say they're having trouble locating residents who have left the area. they need to get the approval before they can decontaminate properties. they're struggling to find space to store radioactive soil. the group plans to drop a timetable at the end of the year after consulting municipalities. this will influence when residents can return home. the site around the fukushima plant was some of the largest area of area.

the meat was sold across the country from cattle. everything changed after the accident at the facility in 2011. a large amount of radioactive particles fell on cattle farming land. the government called them to avoid the spread of contamination. one man refused to call it quits. nhk now has the story. he spent more than 40 years raising cattle in the town. his farm is about 14 kilometers from the nuclear plant. two months after the accident, fish officials ordered farmers in the area to carry out cattle.

they worried the contaminated meat might make it to the market. this man kept his herd alive. he's now looking after 360 contaminated cows including some from nearby farms. >>translator: i will never abandoned our cattle or give in to the killing order. >> reporter: he's proposing the cat hl be kept alive in order to study the effects of radiation. he has defense around the property damaged by the earthquake. he has no income to support his activities. >>translator: i've been exposed to high levels of radiation trying to keep the cattle alive even though they no longer have commercial value. i keep asking myself, why am i doing this? >> reporter: his effort hasn't been in vain.

his attention of scientists interested in studying the impact of radiation on the animals. >> moto is a professor at the university. he's looking into the effects of radiation on animals by studying livestock and animals in the contaminated area. the herd could help him in his study. >>translator: i want to make this a long term study. i think it's unprecedented for a herd to spend years eating contaminated food. we must keep track of the cows

to see what will happen to them. i'm sure this will provide valuable data. >> reporter: there's abnormalities in the herd. white spots appeared on the skin of some of the cows. there is no indication yet that the skin discoloration comes from the radiation. over the next five years, he hopes to identify which radioactive substances accumulated in the animals and how the cows are affected. >>translator: these animals have a long life. this will allow us to study and

share information about the impact of long term internal exposure. no one has had the opportunity to do this before. >> reporter: the research project has brought him a sense of purpose. >>translator: seeing the researchering examine my cattle, i feel my efforts haven't been in vain. i hope the findings of this study will be useful. kukumoto says the results of the study could be relevant to rue mans. meanwhile, the farmer hopes his decision to stay could one day contribute to protecting animals and humans from the effects of radiation. nhk world fukushima. more and more residents who

chose to leave after the disaster are returning home.

obama is expected to clarify his position that the action would be limited and the u.s. would not go to war. a russian proposal might help stop the u.s. from using any force at all. russia's foreign minister has ergeed the syrian government to put the chemical weapon stock pile under international control. he says syria could avoid u.s. military strike if it does so. members of the government welcome the proposal. they're concern about the security of the syrian people. obama told u.s. media he considers this to be modestly positive development and sees potential in the russian plan. >> i want to make sure that norm against use of chemical weapons is maintained.

that's in our national security interest. if we can do that without a military strike, that's overwhelmingly my preference. >> he said u.s. is ready to take mill tooir action since syria has made no moves to stock pile chemical weapons in the past. the latest opinion poll suggests the majority of americans oppose using force in syria. many others are sounding pout about the possibility of syria forces handing over such weapons. obama spoke over the phone with french president and british prime minister david cameron. they both said they agree to work with officials to explore the possibility of the proposal. the efforts will begin later tuesday at the united nations. also on thursday, u.s. secretary of state john kerry will meet russian foreign minister in geneva. a spokesperson told nhk tuesday

the two diplomats are expected to discuss the russian suggestion. car sales in china increased 10% in august, the first double digit growth in two months. officials at the china association of automobile manufactures say total vehicle sales including trucks and buses stood at 1.64 million units in august, up 10.3% from the same month last year. japanese auto makers were affected by worsening rels between japan and china. sells fell 9.3% to 205800 units. new auto sales were up in china. sale of german vehicles was up.

rapid economic growth is coming to an end in china. leaders will have to find other ways to keep the engine going. judging from the activity in shanghai, changes are already in the wind. we have the details now. >> reporter: government officials are trying our free trade zones on the edge of shanghai. tax incentives are already in place in areas. it takes up 20 square kilometers of real estate. the push for reform open up our whole economy in line with international trade regulations. >> reporter: government authorities also say they will drastically reduce trade and final regulations to achieve their goal. for example, tariffs might be

lowered or abolished. financial institutions might be allowed to set their own interest rates for saving and loans. restrictions on cross border yuan restrictions could be relaxed. top leaders have appeared to triler the projects. for example, they're concerned about the future of china's economy. exports have been a major reason for china's success, but now they've slowed. plenty of cheap labor helped industry make big strives, but now wages are going up all across the country. >> china's economy is in the adjustment phase. the key to success will be in developing the high-tech industry as well as the retail and service sectors. china's government is testing various reforms inside the

experimental zones. it's clear that officials see that they are dealing with a nationwide challenge. >> reporter: authorities have yet to reveal details about the trial zones, but many shanghai business people spoke about the project. >>translator: the free trade zone experiment is a symbol of china's rapid economic growth. >>translator: i have high on loans and savings will be subject to less government control. it's good for the stock market too. >> reporter: foreign companies also weapon the experimental zones. this japanese farm operates with the area. the company imports and exports computer parts. when ever goods arrive from

japan, custom stuff takes two days. this holds up deliveries to various parts of china. the company managers expect that soon the customs people will not take as long as. the company also expects the government will ease financial regulations. >>translator: if restrictions on yuan settle ms are eased and restrictions are lowered in pilot soens, it will attract more companies to the zones. >> reporter: new zones encourage workers to take advantage. they suggested building a tax free shopping center in the zone. some think the pilot zones are part of china's plan to enter the free trade pact. whatever the goal, people are

keeping a close watch on how far authorities will ease the hold on the economy. nhk world shanghai. farming in japan as many other places has long been a family business. many young people aren't interested in taking over. the number of farmers in japan dropped almost half over the past two decades. now prime minister abe and members of the administration want private companies to pick up the slack. we now have the details. >>. >> reporter: the operators of this supermarket chain started doing their own farming to produce a stable supply of produce. they now grow vegetables on 12 properties nationwide.

the question for them is whether they can boost productivity to stay in business. they take photos of the growing process and store them on the cloud computing system. the data is then share add cross the 12 farms helping the people running them to learn from each other. the system also calculates the total production cost at each farm to find efficiencies. company officials are not set yet. they say they have to budget for initial losses because of the huge start up costs. >>translator: we're seeing good progress, but we need to make more profits. we have to report our quartly earnings. that makes us very cost

conscious. >> reporter: one government has taken initiative to get corporations involved. officials in all the companies say in 20 years the number of farmers there be dwindle to a third of what it is today. they're trying to help corporations who come to the region to profit from farming. they calculate corporations need land to be profitable. that farm land in japan is divide into small plots with multiple owners. officials say the solution is to consolidate the land and offer larger plots to companies. they've also hired workers to plow the land and fertilize the soil. it's ready for corporations at a moment's notice. the operators of a restaurant

chain now list in order. this green house used to be overrun by weeds, but the government cleaned it all up helping to cut the initial investments substantially. the company started turning a profit for the land in just three years. >>translator: we consulted with officials on ways to clear the land before we moved in. they responded right away. >> reporter: the efforts of officials are paying off. they've managed to attract nearly 160 companies so far. 15% in the prefixture are still idol. >>translator: considering the number of farm hers will decline, we'll need more companies to join us or our

economy will collapse. >> reporter: one expert says the center of government needs to establish a system that encourages farmers to lend more land so companies can improve productivity. >>translator: weakness in the japanese agriculture sector comes from the fact it's relatively inefficient. that's where government should step in. >> reporter: farmers are putting pressure on the government. thepts a system sustainable for farmers and corporations. keiko, nhk world tokyo. here's a look at latest market figures.

coming up, the world weather forecast with our meteorologist sayaka mor. >> it is sprinkling outside the studio. other than that, dry across japan. nice to go out. a line of thunder showers align from parts of china up to the korean peninsula bringing heavy rain and thunderstorms. many lightning strikes reported in south korea early this morning remaining a stormy side throughout the day. a different one is causing rainfall for the border of north eastern parts of china and russia raising the potential for

floosd further. as for temperatures, tokyo 29 degrees with partly sunny skies. fukuoka 32. i want to show you this beautiful scene coming out of the city. the red rise have started to turn red. farmers in the city began planning red rice to revitalize the community. many visit to see the beautiful scenery this time of year. the long spell of rain delayed the change of color about a week. you can feel the arrival of autumn. today is a different story. 32 for the high. summer has not completely gone yet. across the ameri we've been watching the tropical storm that is gabriel. it died the other day but has reemerged. it's producing rough surf as well as strong winds to burr mu da. we have tropical warnings in place at this moment.

the system will likely move over near the island in the next few hours as a tropical storm and head toward the north. nova scotia probably friday or saturday local time. we'll keep updating you on the storm's progress. as for the continent, high pressure is keeping things dry and hot across the east. flooding rain for the four corners region, the positive sign it could improve the drought situation. it certainly produce risks of flooding and landslides. there's a risk of severe weather over great lakes and south eastern canada. as for temperatures, once again high across the east. 33 in new york city. that's 10 degrees higher than seasonal. 34 washington dc. 36 dallas and flip side of the continent heating up in seattle at 32 with abundance of sunshine. in europe, there are three

features. dry and hot across much of the peninsula. wet and cooler across the british aisle. stable weather for the continent. most severe weather is going to be found in the area from germany into the state. the system will likely linger across the location throughout the day and turning cooler across the british isles with low pressure system. not too bad wednesday. turning very chilly on friday. you may want to wear one more layer of jacket as we go to friday. for example, dublin 13 disease on the last day of the workweek and 14 degrees for manchester. here's your extended forecast around the globe.

that is the edition of newsline in tokyo. thank you for joining us. 

>> i see some repeaters in the audience. this is the fourth event of five that we are hosting to celebrate the centennial of woodrow wilson's inauguration as president in 1913. we had a dinner last night at wilson house, which included an interview with the chairman of the house foreign affairs committee, ed royce.