japan. i'm james tengan. tropical storm man-yi is leaving power outages and land slides. more than 120 others have been injured. a woman was found dead in shiba prefecture western japan after a land slide destroyed her house. another woman died in similar

circumstances in fukui prefecture. in fukushima prefecture, four men were swept away by a river. one of them is still missing. forecasters with the japan meteorological agency said man-yi has passed through honshu and is now moving northeast over the sea. winds still remain strong. people in fukushima in kyoto prefecture have been watching the river that runs through the area still over its banks. the water has flooded streets, houses and farmland. the central and western regions of japan have so far recorded 550 millimeters of rain. the powerful winds unleashed by the storm have cut power to thousands of households and damaged hundreds of homes. in miyagi prefecture, the roof of a store was blown away. debris was scattered dozens of

meters away from the shop. >> translator: we were just getting back on our feet from the tsunami two years ago. i don't know what to say. >> many homes near tokyo were heavily damaged as the wind tore down power lines and toppled trees. >> translator: i woke to a shaky noise. i thought it was an earthquake. it took about a minute for the power pole to fall over. >> the storm also damaged homes in guma and other prefectures north of tokyo. local authorities have set up evacuation shelters for affected residents. the storm has put crews at the damaged fukushima daiichi plant on alert. workers released into the ocean water that had accumulated at the facility. the plant operator maintains radiation levels in the water were below government set standards. heavy rain brought by severe tropical storm man-yi left water

levels to rise in the barriers around the storage tanks. workers took water samples from the barriers to measure the radioactive particles. tepco officials said the levels were below the official limit of 30 becquerels per liter. they decided to release the excess water into the ocean. workers also took samples inside the containment barrier of a tank that leaked 300 tons of contaminated water last month. the sutility transferred the excess water from that location to another tank. the storm has forced workers to delay some projects, including the construction of new storage tanks and the building of steel walls to prevent contaminated groundwater from seeping into the sea.

u.n. inspectors have smid their report on whether chemical weapons have been used in syria. ban ki-moon is beginning to brief the security council on the matter. ban is scheduled to present the report to the security council on monday. the document will be made available to the public at the same time. on saturday, the united states and russia agreed on a framework for scrapping chemical weapons held by syria. some members of the security council are expected to continue pushing for a resolution against the syrian government of bashar al assad. opposition groups accused government forces of using chemical weapons near damascus on august 21st. the syrian administration has rejected the claims and blamed anti-government forces. u.n. inspectors visited syria to collect soil and blood samples, which were sent to the hague for analysis. the dutch city is home to the headquarters of the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons.

french president francois alan said military action must remain an option. hollande spoke on french tv after the united states and russia agreed on a framework of chemical weapons held by syria. hollande said pressure from france and the u.s. continued that before the end of the week. the u.n. security council should vote on a resolution that is based on the framework. >> translator: we must make sure that the threat of sanctions remains. if the obligations are not followed. the military option must remain, other-wise there will be no pressure. >> on monday, the foreign ministers of france, the united states and britain will meet in paris to deiscuss how to deal with syria. syria's ongoing conflict is continuing to make the sectarian tension in neighboring countries worse. explosions in iraq on sunday killed at least 21 people.

three cars blew up at a market. the blast killed six people and wounded 45 others. no one has claimed responsibility. but authorities suspect the bombings were carried out by sunni muslim extremists. they say 21 people died across the country and 158 were hurt. more than 5,000 people have been killed in iraq this year, in explosions and shootings. japanese and south koreans have turned to cultural exchange to help ease strained relations. one such event held on sunday in seoul is being hailed a success. it's helped to bridge differences over historical and territorial issues. this year's event got under way

in seoul on sunday. people from both countries performed traditional dances, parades and martial arts. a space was set up where korean visitors could try on kimono, the traditional japanese attire. despite political differences, a record high number of up to 700 volunteers helped out. during this event, the number of visitors rose from last year to about 45,000. >> translator: i hope that the countries can develop a relationship. >> the event started eight years ago in seoul to deepen mutual understanding through cultural exchanges. it's been held both in tokyo and seoul since 2009. the event moves to a venue in tokyo next saturday and sunday. currently here in tokyo, we've got overcast skies with temperatures hovering around the 26-degree mark. for other cities across the globe, here's the extended world weather outlook.

finally, the feathers were flying over the weekend in russia's far east. about 100 young people took part in a pillow fight. that's part of a festival celebrating the founding of the region's capital. competitors whacked each other with the fluffy headrests in a park. the city was founded 131 years ago in czarist russia. at one point in the pillow fight, some competitors faced off one on one the. recent oil and natural gas development is boosting their economy. as people's living standards improve, the festival grows bigger every year. for more news and special reports just logon to our

website. i'm james tengan in tokyo. thanks for watching.

august 2013, two canadians pay a visit to iwate prefecture. they are filmmakers.