youtube.com/america. hello and welcome to nhk. it's friday, soept 20th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. . north korean leaders pushing to restart talks on their nuclear program and have the backing of a powerful ally. the chinese for when minister wang yi has urged the united

states to agree to the resumption of the suspected six-party talks on north korea's nuclear program. >> translator: i look forward to having a deep discussion with secretary kerry and explore how we can work together to relaunch the six-party talks. negotiators from north and south korea, the u.s., china, japan and russia launched the talks in 2003. the north koreans and the chinese want to re-open the talks without any preconditions. but officials from the u.s., south korea and japan want authorities in pyongyang to take concrete steps towards denuclearization before they renegotiate. u.s. eresearchers said a north korean nuclear reactor that's been shut down for years may be back up and running and say the facility is capable of generating weapons' grade plutonium. caroline kennedy says if she

becomes the u.s. ambassador to japan, she'll work to bolster bilateral ties in line with the wishes of her father, the late president john f. kennedy. kennedy said her father hoped to be the first sitting president to make a state visit to japan. >> if confirm as ambassador i would be humbled to carry forward his legacy in a small way and represent the powerful bonds that represent our two societies. >> she testified in front of the senate foreign relation's committee prior to her confirmation as u.s. envoy to japan. this is the first time she's publicly discussed policies on japan. in 1978, she visited hiroshima with her uncle, the late senator edward kennedy. she said she would think of no other country she'd rather serve than japan. they said the u.s. alliance is the cornerstone of peace, stability and prosperity in asia and members of the juried to facilitate active youth

exchanges. >> i'll work to increase exchanges between american, japanese students scholars and citizens so future generation also understand and bind our nations closer. >> if approved by the senate, kennedy, the first woman to become ambassador to japan as early as next month. russian president said he doesn't know if it will be successful but hoping the plan will work out. russian and u.s. officials reached and agreement last week on collecting and disposing of the syrian stockpile. russian leaders propose the plan to avoid that. >> translator: i can't be 100% certain we can bring it to an

end but what seen in the past few days has given us confidence that it will be accomplished 123450 se 1234. >> syrian leaders have agreed to cooperate. and putin said he has grounds to believe that syrian opposition forces were responsibility for the poison gas attack last month and the rocket used had a soviet-made insignia and called it a rebel provocation and it's unrealistic to the syrian government is using outdated weapon. and the executives at jp morgan chase have received with british financial authorities over a high-profile trading scandal. largest investment bank in the u.s. will be required to pay $920 million in penalties. last year, jp morgan chase posted $6.2 billion in losses on derivatives trading conducted at the london office. in august, u.s. prosecutors filed criminal charges in a new york federal court against two jp morgan chase traders accusing

them of trying to hide the losses. on thursday, the bank accepted responsibility for the oversight. jp morgan chase will pay the fines to financial authorities, including the u.s. securities and exchange commission and britain's conduct authority. heavy downpours triggered by tropical storm manuel and hurricane ingrid hit mexico since sunday. the death toll has risen to 80. a massive landslide occurred at the village of guerro leaving 58 people missing. a wide urban area of acapulco in the same state was also hit by flooding. many residents tried to evacuate or called for help from rooftops. the government sent a military aircraft to rescue 40,000 tourists who became is stranded after roads were cut off.

an alligator emerged on wednesday in an urban area setting off a panic. it is said to have been carried by an overflowing river. japan's prime minister has called on the leader of the fukushima daiichi plant to decommission the reactors. shinzo abe's appeal comes among growing concerns about water leaks at the plant.

but tepco officials have not given a firm word on what they'll do. nhk world's yoshitaka hiranuchi reports. >> reporter: prime minister shinzo abe toured the area on thursday and talked about the request to executives of tepco. >> translator: i urged tepco executives to dismantle the number five and six reactors and deal on the series of problems, including leaking radioactive water. >> reporter: four reactors are set to be scrapped. three had suffered meltdowns after the march 2011 earthquake and tsunami. both reactors are still stable, but local community leaders have

demanded the company decommission them too. people around the plant have mixed feelings about abe's words. >> translator: all of my town's residents cannot return home. if you think about that, it is natural for the country's leader to ask for all of the reactors to be dismantled. >> translator: that is natural. the world will laugh at us if we let the reactors restart after such a tragic disaster. >> translator: i do not think the situation in fukushima is under control as abe's. once he says it, he should make that happen. >> reporter: abe's aim is to follow through on a pledge he made to the international olympic committee earlier this month. it helped tokyo to secure the

2020 summer games. >> some may have concerns about fukushima. let me assure you that situation is under control. >> reporter: but since that statement, tepco has released new details of radioactive water leaks at the plant. abe's aim now is to focus on how to control the problem. instruct tepco to set a deadline to decontaminate radioactive water stored at the site. 400 tons of ground water seeps into the buildings and gets contaminated every day. abe said tepco's president said the company plans to decontaminate the water by march

2015. tepco' officials say they are taking the prime minister's request seriously. hive to they've made no promises to do so. they will make a decision by the end of the year. yoshitaka hiranuchi, nhk world. former nintendo president hiroshi yamauchi led the company into a giant. he died thursday of pneumonia at the age of 85. nintendo is known for super mario brothers and pokeman. in 1949, he took over as president of the family-run business making western and traditional japanese playing cards. he stayed at the helm for more than half a century. nintendo launched the game

console in 1983 helping home video games in japan and abroad. in 1992, yamauchi became the seattle mariners largest shareholder. ichiro suzuki signed with the team. that was in 2000. not all the exhibit torps are household names. individuals and small firms show their low-budget games for the first time. we have this report to check them out. >> reporter: the playstation four and x-box one. visitors can get their hands on the most eagerly anticipated games before they go on sale. social network games are also a big draw. they are new and increasingly popular. nearly half are designed to be played on smartphones and tablets.

one genre that is drawing attention is indie games. they are getting their spot for the first time this year. individual and small firms are putting their products on the market. 40 exhibitors are showing potential and appeal of indie games. one offering is samurai defender where the player defends the castle. it went on the market in march and it's popular. it has been downloaded 600,000 times. the game is the brainchild of one man. he used to work at a big gaming company. he saw the potential of indie offerings and launched his own business two years ago.

>> translator: the development took about four months. the budget was a few tens of thousands of dollars. that is much less than a big company would spend. >> reporter: he and his staff don't need much space. the only tools they use are few computers. new software technologies allow people to create games without buying expensive equipment. most of their games are the work of just two people. >> translator: we release games abroad and got a good response. so we plan to negotiate with firms that might become overseas distributors. >> reporter: journalists and marketers see great potential in indie games.

they have been checking out the booths of minor labels. >> a lot of potential because the freedom is there to make whatever they want and that is important when you are a creator. >> reporter: indie games are winning fans around the world. small developers have a chance to compete with major labels. they can reshape the industry. noriko nakajima, nhk world, tokyo. here's a look at your markets.

japanese and south korean leaders have got caught up as of late in disagreements over history and territory. many south koreans are hoping for better times ahead. nhk world's shohei yano reports from seoul. >> reporter: you never guess relations was delaying the japanese and south korea culture festival in seoul last sunday. each country presents its own traditional performing arts. the 700 volunteers made this year's event more dynamic than ever.

>> translator: we want to develop personal relationships and keep improving ties between our two countries. >> reporter: but south korean organizations campaign for nationwide boycott of japanese products. however, it has never gained traction. on the other hand, south koreans are showing more interest in japanese's literature. a book store in seoul set up a special section. the korean translation of the book here is very popular. this bar opened in downtown seoul in august, with a japanese

brewer to taste the beer. the bar has been a hit. >> translator: what the japanese government does has nothing to do with japanese food. i eat what i like. i don't eat what i don't like. >> reporter: many south koreans enjoy japanese-style restaurants and ramen noodle shops are doing very well in seoul, but a growing number of south koreans are alarmed at the poor relations with the two countries and how they are dealing. at this college in seoul, about 300 children are japanese. many would like to see the two governments get along better. >> translator: so many young south koreans dislike japan. i worry by the time the next

generation comes along, this animosity will only get worse. >> reporter: this mother is taking steps to get her son to view japanese in the better light. she lives in seoul. she was concerned by his friends. she says some students don't know much about japan. >> translator: the children think badly of japan without knowing much about the country. they hate japan without any understanding. >> reporter: and she wanted them to see the japanese more objectively.

they went to a special social event at the japan embassy. during the gathering, the children had a chance to tryout the culture for themselves. >> translator: my son learned about the activities of japanese children. i want him to experience japanese culture instead of just feeding on animosity. >> reporter: a movement is in the way to understand the good intention of the japanese and learn about their culture. this may be what both governments need to improve relations. shohei yano, nhk world, seoul. shopping in japan can be hard for women that wear larger

sizes but people in the fashion business see that as an opportunity. >> reporter: this is a photoshoot with models dressed in chic fashions but there's a difference. the models are not rail thin. this model may not have the type of body usually featured in fashion magazines. until recently, japanese fashion magazines featured only slender women. this magazine dared to be different by featuring models with more curves. the magazine gives them fashion tips. some models weigh over 100 kilograms and the magazine publishes the height, weight and bust/hip ratio of each model. the first issue came out in march and it sold 100,000 copies. that was twice as many as the

publisher's expected. this is the founder and editor. she's surprised but its success. >> translator: there were many consumers who could not enjoy fashion because they had bigger builds so when we came out with this magazine, it was a hit with them. >> reporter: that inspired people at a major talent agency and one of japan's top fashion magazines. they decided to hold a joint audition for plus-sized women. the organizers are confident these aspiring models and actresses will feel a niche in japan. clothing stores for plus-sized women are opening in major cities. sales of this brand are up 10% over last year. >> translator: before i couldn't find anything i wanted. but recently i've been finding

more clothes that i like in my size. >> reporter: she's been hired for a shoot in a fashion magazine and she says she used to feel bad about her figure. >> translator: i was always large. kids bullied me during junior high school. i never smiled. no matter what i did, i wasn't happy. >> reporter: but her modeling work has given her new confidence. when saki's not in a shoot, she works at a nursing home. the residents say her smile has grown brighter since she began modeling. her mother has noticed the change, too. >> translator: as a parent, i'm so glad that she's smiling and becoming a cheerful person.

i became opposite of the depressed person i used to be. fashion changed my life. >> reporter: women of all body types are interested in dressing well. people in the fashion industry are waking up to this fact and that's bringing smiles to more women's faces. >> time for a check on your weather. good morning. you've been keeping track of a typhoon heading toward taiwan. what's the latest? catherine, good morning. we've been keeping an eye on this typhoon. you can see a massive swirl of clouds and talking about the eye, you can see a defined eye moving all the way toward the northwesterly direction toward taiwan and it is a large and violent status and you don't really see this combination. uds quite rare and it shows you the sbesity gusts reaching up to

about 300 kilometers an hour with wind speed sustained is 200 kilometers an hour and these winds could uproot large trees and damage houses. so before the system approaches, residents in these vicinities should take precautions. the dumping of the heavy rain will be continuing across the area as well. topping up to about 300 millimeters due to the swirl of the clouds, it's carrying moisture and dumping it to taiwan into the next 48 to 72 hours and certainly, this will up the risk of flooding, landslides as well assed many slides so we really keep an eye on this. and another storm system we have been tracking is this tropical depression, still a tropical depression over land. and the intensity hadn't changed. now it will be affecting the western region of indochina peninsula and it has a history of generating about 300 millimeters of rainfall in taiwan and that will be closer

to the western regions. we have another storm system which will be developing into tropical storm -- now in the east of the mariana islands to ap tropical storm status in the next 24 hours. to the north, we have high pressure covering much of the continent and japan, also, is seeing very clear skies. and the skies provided favorable conditions for moon viewing last night. let me show you pictures coming from tokyo a. ideal conditions to watch the harvest full moon. many people gathered at one of the three great gardens in japan to watch the moon while they listened to japanese traditional music. meanwhile, other people enjoyed the view from a boat, together with food and beer. the full moon celebration typically takes place on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar. we're going to be seeing some clear skies again today with 30 degrees in tokyo with plenty of

sunshine. now, moving over to europe, the north looking quite melsy. especially scandinavian peninsula with heavy downpours affecting sweden and a yellow alert for flooding in place across the area and severe weather is moving into western russia. moscow at 12 degrees down from 17 yesterday. berlin is looking at 15. paris recovering in the normal range at 20 degrees. here across the americas, and mexico, manuel is still a tropical storm system steadily moving inland and this has created devastation in and around the area which is one of the main resorts of the country. it looks like this will provide even more rain, about 15 millimeters of additional rainfall on top of the well-saturated land and flooding conditions. here the low pressure system has formed over the gulf of mexico. it's hugging the eastern coast where the land is still very loose. this is likely to become a

tropical cyclone in the next 24 hours. so we'll keep an eye on the. to the temperatures, oklahoma city's down to 25 from 34 yesterday. quite a drop with that cold front passing through the area. and i'll leave you now for our extended forecast.

that's all for this edition of nhk. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. stay with us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

♪ >> ok. welcome to the woodrow wilson center. for today's presentation young and undocumented, the new american story. more on that in a moment. first some business. my full time job is that i am the executive producer, managing editor and host of our weekly program dialogue at the wilson center. i am curious how many are visiting the wilson center for the first time? ok