>>ar hello and thank you for joining us on this edition of "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. leaders appear to be rallying counterparts in japan. they halted the fate of japanese citizens missing including abductees. this follows the decision for new sanctions over a nuclear test and a rocket launch. north korean leaders used state media to announce disbanding the committee with the whereabouts of missing japanese. they threaten stronger counter measures and say the government in tokyo must bear responsibility for the consequences.

the japanese government said north korean agents abducted at least 17 citizens for the 70s and 80s. what happened to 12 of them is not clear. the north koreans promised to investigate with the agreement. the foreign ministry told the leaders they had no intention of cancelling the agreement. they called the announcement regrettable and said they will keep urging the north koreans to take action. a relative of a japanese abductee said he expected the north koreans to suspend the investigation since japan decided on new sanctions. he wants officials to push forward in a new framework to get the abductees home. north korean leaders have been needling the government in the south. on thursday they shut down an industrial complex the two ko a koreas had together. they suspended operations as part of sanctions. they believe the main mover

behind the actions is a hard line military leader. they said this person took control of a government division called the united front defendant. the staff oversee relations with the south and engage in covert operations against japan. south korean firms that had operations in the joint industrial complex are demanding government compensation for the closure. a group of more than 100 small and medium sized firms held an emergency meeting on friday. representatives said their personal livelihoods and the future of their companies depend on the complex. they criticized the government for the unilateral decision to halt all operations. >> translator: damage is huge because we recently expanded our facility. the government is responsible for this situation. >> a resolution adopted at the meeting urges the government to fully compensate for their losses and reopen the complex.

later in the day, the unification minster held a news conference to announce an expansion of loans and tax breaks for the firms. >> translator: the north should refrain from damaging our citizens's precious assets. >> he also said the north will be held responsible if south korean assets are damaged. the foreign minsters from china and south korea discussed possible sanctions against pyongyang. the minsters med on thursday and discussed the recent rocket launch and january's nuclear tests. south korean officials say the foreign minster stressed the need for a strong un sanctions resolution and urged china to play as a permanent member of the council. they pointed out it would hurt his own interests as well. the state run chinese news

agency reported that the foreign minster agrees on the need for a resolution and said sanctions should not be the goal. he called for the nuclear issues to be resolved through dialogue. he brought up china's disapproval of a potential anti-missile system that the u.s. and south korea have agreed to consider since the north's rocket launch. tokyo stocks slumped further. the nikkei dipped below the key 15,000 lel for the f since october 2014. our business reporter has more from t tokyo stock exchange. >> one manager told me that foreign investors are behind the plunge as they reduce all sorts of equities. on top of the global growth and central bank's baseballs to spur growth, the fears are rising that the surging yen could

squeeze earnings of japanese companies. tokyo slipped for three sessions in a row and on friday the nikkei broke below 15,000 for the first time in a year and four months. they briefly trimmed losses on hopes for a yen intervention. they closed with hefty losses of 4 hadn't 8% and the topix dropped 5.4% at the close. they posted the worst week since october of 2008 and dropped more than 11% from last week. earlier this week we saw the yen hit a 15-month high against the dollar. the global players were hit hard and supporters like hitachi and sony posted sharp losses because the yen could force them to downgrade the earnings. the index left 9.5%. analysts say there worries about the telecom business in the u.s. we saw sell offs in pharmaceuticals and financials

and in 97% of stocks listed on the main boards. the money manager said he expects japanese equities to bottom out because share prices apparently dropped to an oversold level on friday. let's see how they turn out when china comes back from the holidays. reporting from the tokyo stock exchange. >> let's take a look at the other markets in the asia pacific region. the hang sang fell 1.2% ending at 18,319. that's the lowest since nguyen 2012. banking shares led the decline. they shed 1.4% finishing at 1,835. the lowest close in nearly six months. auto shares with kia rose. investors felt the stronger yen could make the products more competiti competitive.

most other markets ended lower. indonesian shares sagged 1.3% and sydney's index slipped 1.2%. >> bank of japan governor spoke in front of the lower house committee on the yen's rapid rise and tumbling shares. it's not behind the recent market turbulence. >> translator: if you look from a fundamental perspective, the recent turmoil is an out kk of risk aversion. >> he said the effects of the policy will spread in the real economy and in prices. he added he will take additional easing measures if necessary. he met with shinzo abe for the first time in 4.5 months. he said he explained his negative interest rate policy. he declined to comment on what they discussed over the yen's sharp rise and on exchange rate

levels. a record five million tourists visited japan in 2015. that's more than twice the number for 2014. chinese travelers celebrating the lunar new year are flocking to japan and many are looking for an experience with a new twist. some r turning not just to goods, but to services unique to japan. >> i will try before i come back to my country. curl hair like this. >> japanese hair is something i think is more beautiful than chinese ones. >> this hair salon started seeing more foreign visitors at the end of last year. now it serves about 10 per month. the salon figured the lunar holiday may bring in more chinese visitors. the staff put together a booklet listing chinese expressions and

questions. >> translator: we know how to greet in chinese, but if we learn more words, i'm sure we will be able to break the ice and have better communication. >> translator: customers tell me to make their faces look smaller. how do you say small face in chinese? >> they practice the new phrases during the breaks. the salon manager said they go a long way with the chinese visitors. >> translator: chinese tourists are impressed with japanese service. they are surprised at how we take a lot of care and go the extra mile to make sure customers are happy. we feel this is a big opportunity for us. >> translator: parts of japan are hoping to lure chinese tourists with something different. these people are from the city in eastern china. they are visiting a small

farming village in western japan. farmers welcome tourists with dried persimmons, steamed sweet potatoes and other local sweets. entertainments are organized by local volunteers. they are attracted to everyday life in the countryside. >> translator: it's fun spending time here. >> translator: i live in a stew cooped up so i love visiting farming villages and having a relaxing time should be the main purpose of traveling. >> the city believes these trips could be a tourism niche. it invited 10 travel agencies for the first business meeting. pass a municipal worker and as a volunteer he spent time showing chinese visitors around and finding farmers willing to host them. he has confidence in the value

of regional culture as a tourism asset. the city proposed a tour that covers a variety of local attractions from leading tourist spots to regional cuisine and lesser known fruit picking orchards. >> translator: it's good that we can experience something new like picking oranges and going fishing. >> the most popular attracts are the traditional ones such as hot springs. a blowfish dipper is also popular. it's a delicacy is that rare is china. >> people from the prefecture and the broader region should marshall strengths and collaboration is crucial for tourism to flourish. >> regions across japan are vying to attract chinese tourists and offering all sorts

of distinctively local hands on experiences to entertain the visitors. par. >> pakistani military officials arrested officials for a string of attacks. we have the details. >> the arrests follow years of rampant terror attacks and sectarian violence and 50,000 have died over the last decade. the military officials say the mass bus netted 97 militants from three banned groups. pakistani taliban and the local al qaeda affiliate. they are allegedly responsible for several now infamous incidents in 2009 and 2015.

>> translator: this group was involved in the karachi airport attack. this group was involved in a jail break attempt in karachi about a year ago. >> the military said the men include several suspected of emergencying a prison break in the southern city. the jail break attempted to free the killer of "wall street journal" reporter daniel pearl in 2002. he is believed responsible for numerous attacks that killed hundreds of shia. the pakistani taliban is the largest insurgency group in the country. >> the largest exhibition of culture is opened in bangkok and up to 100,000 people are expected to sample everything from sush towi to anime. the expo kicked off on friday

and more than 200 top japanese firms and organizations are taking part. the pop culture and food are on show. 57 companies including auto makers and banks are taking advantage to recruit local staff. >> translator: i applied for a job because i want to learn skills from a cutting edge company. >> translator: changing jobs is more common in thailand than japan. so it's difficult to get people and train them. our challenge is to coach employees to share the same values as ours. >> thailand's jobless rate is below 1%. many companies especially those located in the suburbs are struggling to hire.

as the bangkok expert shows, comics andan mated movies are very popular in thailand. asia's first retailer for japanese pop culture exports are open in bangkok. they faced a battle against piracy. >> jma is a consortium of four publishing giants along with the merchandise retailer. it opened the first shop in bangkok last saturday. hundreds of enthusiastic fans rushed to buy merchandise. japanese comics and animation dvds. 50,000 comics have been translated into thai. >> i'm excited because there so many products. >>.

>> translator: there is no thai version of this available. i top the read it in japanese. it will be good practice. the market for comics and related goods is thought to be worth around $130 million u.s. dollars. >> translator: we feel that here in thailand people really respect japanese culture and sales of japanese comics are also number one in southeast asia. we feel that our shop will attract thai fans and we are optimistic about the future. >> lots of excitement, sure. but there is a problem. pirated versions of comics and cartoons are widespread in thailand. young fans say they often enjoy illegally uploaded online content. >> translator: just a few days after the original is released in japan, someone translates it. >> illegal comics are provided

by so-called scam leaders or people who scan the originals and translate and release them. with virtually no action being taken to enforce the law, it is estimated that these pirated versions account for 2/3 of the com comics and cartoons in thailand. one publisher of the comics responded to nhk's request for an interview on condition of anonymity. thailand has a long history of piracy culture. >> translator: it was only about 20 years ago that the concept of licenses entered thailand. piracy was rampant until then. of course i am guilty of it because it's illegal, but it's what we have been doing all along. >> a major publisher of comics believes piracy caused big losses in sales. it's as if the fans need to rethink their attitude. >> translator: thai fans have been addicted to things that are

easy, fast, cheap, and free. they forget the more essential point. we need to educate them about what is right or wrong. >> by authoring a wide range of legal products, they are trying to encourage fans to stay away from pirated goods. to get a shop membership, they must swear an anti-piracy oath. >> translator: buying legal goods president bushes publishers and they will stop piracy. >> the early results of anti-piracy efforts. >> translator: i may change my mind. i should be buying more and more legal products here. >> translator: it may take time, but we believe they will start to think that illegal goods are not cool. we want to change their minds about piracy. >> battlie ining piracy may be g

process, but the presence of a retailer may help give the industry a much needed push in the right direction. nhk world, bangkok. >> that wraps up our bulletin from bangkok. >> scientists are claiming a landmark discovery. an international team led by u.s. researchers said they sucked seeded in detecting gravitational waves for the first time. the ripples in space and time were first predicted by albert einstein about 100 years ago.

>> ladies and gentlemen, we have detected gravitational waves. we did it! >> scientists from the scientific collaboration announced they can now hear space. first they showed reporters what the waves are thought to look like. then they played what they might sound like. the gravitational waves are caused by the universe. einstein predicted their existence a century ago in his theory of relativity. scientists thought they are in direct evidence of their existence in the 1970s. the team said the waves were

produced when two black holes merged into one and estimates they were about 29 and 36 times the mass of the sun. the event took place 1.3 billion years ago. the team started the work in 2002 using two detecters in the united states. at each facility, scientists fired lasers through l-shaped tunnels and monitored the distance between mirrors at the end. when the wave passes by, the distance between the mirrors will change. looking at what's being accomplished, scientists thought back to the man behind the theory. >> einstein would be beaming, wouldn't he? this is obviously a very, very special moment. >> scientists around the globe are hailing the discovery, saying it will hope a new era of

astronomy. >> translator: we can't see a black hole. we can't observe how they merge with an ordinary telescope. now we have a new ear to listen to the universe. >> nobel prize winner in physics has been preparing to launch a large telescope designed to detect gravitational waves next month. he said he looks forward to joining in the global observation network. >> translator: this is the first step. the new era has begun for us to take part in the new field of gravitational wave astronomy. >> scientists say they still have to analyze and verify their data. but they are excited over obtaining a new groundbreaking tool to get step closer to solving the mystery of big bang. nhk world.

>> northern japan gets their share of cold weather in the winter. people don't let the snow get them down. instead they use it to build sculptures and snow houses. jonathan oh reports. >> i am here in the city and you can tell all-around us that there is plenty of snow. they know how to prepare. they have the straw boots that are made out so they don't slip around and have good traction. of course we also talk about the cold weather so we wanted to make sure we are well bundled up. we are located in the very location because of the big festival that is happening. what exactly is a kamakura?

it's this big white dome that looks like an igloo. it is a snow hut and it has a long history to it. it dates back about four centuries ago. >> these children were greeting us and walking inside. there is a lot of history with it because of the drought situation that took place here. the locals believe that if they were able to build them and appeal to the water deity, it would lead them to have a better harvest and fortunes for the upcoming year. they are about 100 of these all-around the city in preparation for the festival. it actually is made out of 20 to 30 metric tons of snow and three meters high. the children love it because they get to stay up late at night. parents let them stay up to

enjoy the festival. they just welcomed us inside to see what's going on. let's go in and see what's happening. as you come inside when you are visiting, you want to make sure that you give your greetings and also make sure that you give your well wishes for the upcoming year. i noticed that they are holding something. [speaking foreign language] >> this is a particulare out of rice. i wonder what it tastes like. i guess i will give it a try. wow. it's sweet. wow. that is tasty as well.

i just asked them if it's cold or not and they say no because of the warmth taking place in here. as we go forward in time, the festival will be starting tomorrow and then it will last through the first part of next week. we are looking to see how this plays out, but it's a big part of the culture here. nhk world. >> it looks cold up there. the snow festival kicks off saturday and we hope you stop by if you are traveling. next here's the three-day outlook on the world's weather.

>> and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. from you will all of us, thanks for watching and have a good day, wherever you are. xnóx

>> it is a blame game that the member states of the european union are playing when it comes to the refugee crisis. it's always the others that are to blame for everything that's going wrong. the refugee crisis is putting the european union to the test and may cause it to unravel entirely. time to look at the eu from a completely different perspective. welcome to this edition of "global 3000." here's what we have coming up for you. robots to the rescue. taking care of elderly japanese style. how going organic is opening up new markets for zanzibar's spices. and, how huge areas of rain