hello you're watching "newsline." i'm keiko kitagawa in tokyo. japanese prime minister shinzo abe is preparing to sit down with an opponent. he will meet face to face on friday with okinawa governor central and prefectural government officials remain divided over the move. onaga requested a meeting ahead of a summit with u.s. president barack obama later this month. the prime minister is expected to seek approval for the central government's plan to relocate

futenma air station within okinawa. abe is likely to stress the transfer is the only way to maintain deterrence under the japan-u.s. alliance and remove dangers posed by the airfield. he will also convey his intention to reduce okinawa's burden of hosting american bases and introduce economic stimulus for the region. the prefecture is home to 70% of u.s. military facilities in japan. the governor is determined no it to have futenma relocated in okinawa. >> translator: i will tell the prime minister that the new base cannot be built. i also want to convey to him the feelings of the people of okinawa so he can relay them to u.s. leaders when he visits america. >> onaga says he will do everything in his power to stop

the move. senior diplomats have confirmed they will work together on north korea's nuclear and missile issues and discussed ways to improve ties between officials in tokyo and seoul. the meeting took place in washington. the deputy foreign minister met with two counterparts. the three discussed a range of issues including china's maritime activity and ways to promote stability in the south asian region. lincoln told reporters that american leaders have encouraged japan and south korea to build stronger relations. the deputy secretary of state reminded his counterparts that his firm apply yans is important to the u.s. >> both sides are responsible for making the relationship better and japan on its part

will continue to make efforts to improve the relationship with the korean friends and i'm hoping that our korean friends will do the same thing with us. >> maintains a consistent stance of historical issue and south korea will cooperate with japan. japanese transporting authority looking at an accident at the hiroshima airport and are focussing on the weather. they're trying to figure out what caused an asiana passenger jet to skid off the runway. they say data shows visibility deteriorated significantly in just six seconds as the aircraft was about to land. nhk world's kimberly gale has more details. >> reporter: transport safety board officials say the plane approached the runway at an abnormally low altitude. they're looking at records of the flight's altitude from a private website that tracks flight courses based on data

transmitted by the aircraft. there is some margin of error, but it can be assumed the asiana flight was descending normally until about one minute before the accident. at 8:04 p.m., the plane was an at altitude of 290 meters, but there's no data on the website after that. in the last minute before the accident, detailed weather data shows visibility suddenly worsened. data's recorded every six seconds. five minutes before the accident at 8:00 p.m., visibility was over 1,800 meters. at 8:03:30, visibility is 1,400 meters, but the required minimum is 1,600 meters. then during the last minute the situation drastically changes. in just six seconds, visibility drops by nearly half to 750 meters.

after 8:05 when the accident is thought to have occurred, visibility was only 300 meters. whether the runway is visible or not is a key factor in a pilot's final decision on whether to land or circle around for another attempt. >> translator: if the weather suddenly turns bad, the captain should be able to go around. we will analyze the cause of the accident. >> reporter: asiana airlines' vice president has apologized on behalf of the company. but the aftermath of the accident will continue for some time. kimberly gale, nhk world. >> the runway has been closed since the accident. but airport officials resumed operations on friday morning. government ministers from malaysia, china, and australia have agreed to double the search area for the missing malaysian

jetliner if the wreckage is not found by may. the aircraft disappeared from radar screens in march last year. ministers of the three countries met on thursday in the malaysian capital kuala lumpur. the search is focused on the indian ocean off the west coast of australia. >> translator: if we cannot locate the aircraft within a 60,000 kilometer, we'll continue another 60,000 square kilometer search. >> we expect the search will take at least the rest of this year to complete the second 60,000 square kilometers. >> the plane took off from koala almost per with 239 passengers and crew members but never arrived in beijing.

163 of the passengers were chinese. experts found the jet had been heading in the opposite direction toward the southern indian ocean. no clues to its whereabouts have been found. finance leaders from the group of 20 nations and industrial economies are getting together in washington. they're basically going to discuss the state of the global economy. and ai uchida joins us from the business desk with some details. what's on the agenda? >> the delegates have a lot to discuss. they have greece they have the china-led asian infrastructure investment bank. on the first day they are expected to focus on the challenges facing the global economy. taro aso is at the table. nay will likely tell their colleagues that the impact of japan's consumption tax hike is fading and the domestic economy is on a recovery track. they are likely to take up

greece's debt problem and dealing with reform to the international monetary fund. the united states is the imf's largest contributor and congress opposes reform. but china and other emerging nations want a stronger say in the fund's management. most of the members will be a part of the china development bank. the heads of the leading international financial institutions have already come out with their remarks. world bank president said demand for infrastructure improvement is huge in developing countries. >> right now, we're still waiting to see exactly what the aiib will be doing, what their products will look like. and at that point the conversation will continue. >> the imf's christine

lagarde. >> the focus to have a completely dedicated institution that will focus on infrastructure on a regional basis is actually an attractive proposition. >> japan and the united states are holding back on joining the aiib, citing transparency concerns. executives at japanese electronics maker sharp are in the final stages of negotiations to receive more funds from their main creditors. the aim is to rebuild the firm's finances. they are expected to book a net loss for the business year that ended march for the first time in two years. sharp is likely to receive about $1.7 billion from its main creditors. executives at the firm also plan to take radical cost-cutting measures. they're asking 3,000 employees in japan to accept voluntary

retirement and its selling its headquarters in osaka, western japan. to improve the alg tv business, the executives are now considering the closure of an assembly plant just north of tokyo. the executives plan to compile a mid-term business plan by may. it will include radical stream lining. let's check in on markets. global markets took a downturn. the indices in the uk and germany also slipping. the dow jones industrial average and the nasdaq ended a touch lower. we go to ramin mellegard who is standing by at the tokyo stock exchange. good morning. how are tokyo stocks reacting? >> pretty much on a negative note. a good morning to you. let look at the opening levels for the nikkei and the topix before i go into the factors

which may guide investors today. for april 17th and the nikkei and the topix are down there half a percent for the nikkei. and it's going to be guided by the factors which drove down stocks which you mentioned in europe and the u.s. the main one being the heightened concerned over a greece exit from the eurozone especially after comments from the imf chief in washington that a delay by degrees in debt payments would not be acceptable. the unexpected rise in weekly unemployment data caused the dollar to fall. that may weigh on exporters here. and a fed official saying while there isn't a dangerous misalignment in rate expectations, weak data so far out of the u.s. has heightened uncertainty about the timing of a fed rate hike. that said there is a glimmer of hope. we had earnings from two of the

biggest banks in the u.s. from the financial sector goldman sachs and citigroup with their strongest results since 2008. the financial sector is look positive. >> you mentioned lagarde's comments. how are bonds and currencies moving? >> let's start with greek bonds. the notes really lost their attraction for investors. we saw a big jump in yields for the three-year note and ten-year bonds as well. and the euro just checking that right now is pressured as well but it's the dollar's overall weakness moderated losses for the euro against the dollar. >> and what about crude oil? we did see a spike there. that triggered buying in related shares. how will stocks here be affected by that? >> we did see that spike in

crude benchmarks. prices hitting a high on thursday, causing investors to snap up shares in new york. but oil prices have been on a downward trend. and jx holdings took a big hit as they assumed a price of $100 a barrel and now it is between $50 and $60. japan companies in china concerned about sluggish growth and we'll see how that affects sectors here as well. that's all for me. back to you. >> all right. we'll check in with you in a few hours' time. property developers in china are struggling with the cost of labor and materials. they say they have no choice choice but to charge more for condominiums. nhk world's akiko okamoto has more. >> reporter: in the heart of

tokyo a 06-story condominium is going up. the developer is a major real estate company. the complex will have 900 units from studios to three-bedroom apartments with spacious living room. the price start at $270,000 and the most expensive unit are go for a whopping $3 million. one major selling point is a large common area for residents. it will include a cafe-like space with chairs and tables a play room for kids and a park. a virtual reality headset allows visitors to envision how the space will look when it is complete. so using the controller i can move forward and go out the balcony and when i move my head towards the left the scenery also changes and i can actually view the big park outside the

condo. and really feel the spacious environment. company officials say such innovative marketing approaches are certainlyessential if they are going to lure potential buyers. >> translator: the virtual reality experience is an essential tool. we have to come up with unique ways to present our properties so our customers will appreciate what we have to offer. >> reporter: another company is transforming older properties into new homes. this condo is a few kilometers from the center of tokyo. the building is 20 years old but everything inside is brand new. the whole complex has undergone a major renovation. the developer hopes it will increase the value of the property. 56-square-meter apartments start

at about $250,000. that's about 20% cheaper than a brand new unit. >> translator: i'm very surprised. it looks completely new. it's very clean and affordable. i hope there will be more condos like this. >> translator: renovated properties are relatively inexpense. we want to give customers more choice by offering both new and used units. >> reporter: despite recent trds o real estate expert i opmistic. he says the market for high-end condos in central tokyo will continue to be strong. >> translator: wealthier people who have made money in the stock market are shopping for homes now. in addition to that the weaker yen is making properties here in tokyo much more attractive to foreign investors.

>> reporter: the 2020 olympics will also be a boon to condo development. investors from around the globe flock to tokyo in pursuit of real estate gold. akiko okamoto, nhk world, tokyo. >> that's the latest in business news. i'll leave you with a check on markets. two years agofficials at unescodded japanese cuisine to

their list of intangible cultural heritage. authorities have used the opportunity to increase food exports but the person who pushed for the listing warns that something important might be missing. nhk world's masaha gawa reports. >> reporter: -- runs japan's biggest culinary academy. 135,000 students have graduated from his institute. some are running michelin-starred restaurts. others work in the kitchens of luxury hotels. tsugi was a key member of the team that lobbied to get washaku to get added to unesco's cultural heritage list. >> we should be proud that it has been recognized. >> reporter: he added that concentrating too much on exporting food is a mistake. he says is time to think about protection.

>> it has to do with the culture. it also has to do with protecting the agriculture, fishery ingredients and also skills education, for example, and regional agriculture areas as well. there's so many things we need to protect in terms of what you call washoku. >> tsugi says that protecting washoku does not mean -- >> let us know if it is too strong for foreign guests or too weak. >> it's so good it's excellent. >> reporter: on this day, tsugi is introducing new techniques using custom-made japanese stock. in japanese traditional food stock is made from shavings of dried fish and kelp. this time the chef used tomato instead. it has the same flavor-boosting substance as the bonito flakes

but it doesn't have a fishy aroma or taste. so people are familiar with japanese cuisine can enjoy it. >> one thing we should not do is to be very forceful to our product of our japanese spirituality what japanese cuisine should be. you start introducing that through using tomato water and then it gets closer by serving bonito flakes as well. it's an education. it's an enhighlightenment to a new palate so that we can introduce new texture, new palate and visuals as well. that's how we should export our cuisine. >> reporter: tsugi believes that educating foreign chefs is the most important thing to make japanese culinary culture take hold overseas. he often invites foreign students and challenges them to think about how they would utilize what they have learned after going back to their home countries.

>> translator: do you want to take pure japanese cuisine back to your country? or would you rather adapt japanese cuisine to south korean taste? >> translator: is it a difficult question. i'm still trying to figure out my answer to that. >> the logic reasoning of every technique that japanese cuisine has it's very important for the foreign -- to understand that logic and formality and historical background as well as the nutritious reason to it all combined to understand japanese cuisine. >> reporter: tsugi is seeking to take japanese cuisine to new heights through education. maki hasegawa nhk world. time now for a check of the weather. joining us in the studio is mai shoji. people in china's northwest is dealing with a severe sand storm. how bad is it? >> in tokyo we sometimes see the hazy conditions but people can't

really open up their eyes in parts of northwestern china due to the intense sand storm. this is what it looks like. i'll give you a picture to show you. high winds have been kicking up dust and sand in northern china this week. this was the scene on thursday where high winds reduced the visibility below 10 meters at time. the high winds shook cars and sand covered everything. local farmers reported at least 300 greenhouses were damaged in the storm. authorities continue to advise people to remain indoors. the dust is expected to drift east and is engulfing the northeastern locations of china and possibly coming to the korean peninsula. and by saturday we'll be engulfing much of japan. not as intense as what we saw in the video. but if you have respiratory problems we highly advise you to wear a mask. the sand will be pulling into the sea of japan coast starting this afternoon. now across the bigger picture

here in central china we have a low pressure system sitting over here. that is likely to create heavy showers across the area. we do see another rain precipitation out here towards japan on the heavy level and even some snowfall that is adding up to as much as 10 centimeters in tohoku. it's the rainfall and the very gusty conditions that will be dominating much of these areas. the sea of japan side of tohoku is experiencing rough weather out there. and even down to the south we have already seen 80 kilometer per hour winds or 90 kilometer per hour in kochi prefecture this morning. but due to the warm air passing on the pacific side of japan we have that cold air that is making it for the snowfall. it's frigid air even though the calendar is marking mid-april. the air masses clash and that creates an atmosphere that is unstable. another round of possibly hail thunderstorms and tornadic activity which cannot be ruled out. if you hear the thunder, go

indoors and take shelter. shut off electronic devices and don't take a shower or bath during the storm. 24 in tokyo with rain coming in. seoul at 19 degrees and bangkok, april is the hottest month of the year. so 35 please watch out for heatstroke. out here in the americas thunderstorms and flash flooding is still another potential in the gulf coast and back behind it we have a significant snowstorm that could drop as much as 60 centimeters as snowfall in the higher elevations. denver could see 10 to 20 centimeters again. 9 degrees for the high. and los angeles is warm at 27 degrees. the warmth in central europe will be gone and it is a cooling trend. we have rain coming in which could be on the heavy patches. paris, chances of thunderstorms. just 18 degrees down from 25 yesterday. london is dry at 13 degrees for your high. i'll leave you now for your extended forecast.

that's all for now on "newsline." i'm keiko kitagawa in tokyo. thank you for joining us. ññqñqñqñqñ8ñ8<

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