hello, you're watching nhk "newsline" i'm keiko kitagawa. rescue crews are renewing their search for two missing people from last week's disaster. the number stands at 48. rescuers are looking through giant mounds of dirt created by land slides. rescuers can not get close because of the landslide risk.

his parents want them to use a drone to continue searching. >> i can't stay home and do nothing. i can't abandon hope that my son will come home. it's hard. 90,000 people are out of their homes. officials are urging them to remain on the alert. the recent earthquakes in kumamoto has caused the ground to shift over a vast area. the geospatial authority analyzed data from the land observation satellite daiichi ii, to measure grounds deformation caused by the quakes

since april 14th. officials found the ground shifted horizontally by ten centimeters or more over an east-west stretch of about 80 kilometers and north-south for 40 kilometers. they say data show the ground moved more than 150 centimeters eastward in places where the highest seismic intensity was registered. on the north side of the fault zone, the ground subsided by more than 120 centimeters. and on the south side more than 40 centimeters of upheaval was measured. a group of university students in the disaster zone has taken to social media, to help people who do not understand japanese. >> translator: i wanted to buy vegetables, meat and fish after having nothing. >> the disaster is taking a toll on tourism and not only in the most affected areas.

the shrine this neighboring prefecture usually draws eight million people a year. even though it was not damaged by the earthquake, visitor numbers are down. nearby shops are also suffering. >> translator: i think sales are falling every day. >> the nation's tourism chief says he's mulling over ways to minimize the impact. >> translator: we continue to provide reliable information to people inside and outside japan. we should contemplate promotional activities to minimize the negative effect on the region. >> officials are trying to get public transportation moving

again. they say a section of the shinkansen bullet train line north of kumamoto will reopen soon, possibly as early as saturday. they're also rushing to repair highways and other main routes in the region. nhk has learned that mitsubishi motors substituted test data to make the fuel economy of many vehicles look better. what's the latest with the developing story? >> just to refresh your memory, someone fabricated data on four models of mini vehicles to carry the nissan badge. now nhk has learned that mitsubishi is likely to delay the release for the earnings year. it was expected for wednesday next week. the automaker cannot predict the time frame it needs to stop

production and sales of the affected models. the firm needs to set aside money to refund customers to cover differences if fuel bills. it must also compensate nissan that's been forced to stop sales of its two models. officials say it's almost three times as many. officials from japan transport ministry have started looking into the case. they are inspecting the automakers center in central japan say key to the scandal is a phenomenon calling rolling resistance. the force generated by road friction on tires and air resistance.

inspectors have found that workers replaced the actual resistance numbers that are high with lower ones obtained from lower ones. lower resistance values mean better fuel economy data. the firm faked it on the four models. officials say the former performance testing chief admitted to ordering the data manipulation. company officials added they are still looking into the confession. the transport ministry has demanded mitsubishi present a detailed report by april 27th. volkswagen has been reeling from a scandal over falsified data. executives at the german automaker and u.s. authorities say they have reached a deal that includes buy backs for nearly half a million vehicles sold in the united states.

a california judge overseeing litigation disclosed the agreement on thursday. the deal gives volkswagen owners the choice of having the company buy back or fix their vehicles installed with software design to cheat on emissions tests. the company has not disclosed how much it will pay. the german automaker issued a statement calling the agreement an important step for making things right. on thursday policy makers at the european central bank decided to keep key interest rates unchanged. if european stocks ended mixed

and crude oil prices retreated. the dow jones industrial with three days of gain and ended below 18,000. we'll see how tokyo stocks are opening this friday. good morning. tell us what you're seeing at the open. we did see a retreat. let's have a look at how that is affecting the nikkei and the topix. yesterday the nikkei rose 2.7%. as for the week it's gained 6%. that's helped boost exporters.

the focus today will still remain on mitsubishi motors. at the close on thursday it fell more than 20%. it's daily limit and also switching to oil prices. earnings have a bit of bearing after alphabet that runs and owns google as well as microsoft's earnings came this weaker than markets expected. >> tell us about currencies. how did the euro react to what came out of the the ecb. >> it jumped against the dollar after the ecb announced the decision of no change in policy. it soon fell after ecb president

hinted about the possibility to eventually increase its stimulus measures if necessary. since then it's fallen to the 107 yen levels earlier in april. a look at markets open elsewhere. seoul's kospi is trading in the negative. how it affects japanese shares and shares of mitsubishi motors and the related sectors to the auto industry. back to you. >> thanks. we'll talk to you in a few hours

time. >> business owners all over japan are feeling the effects of the aging society. nowhere more so than in the country side. some are looking for the answer to the labor shortage abroad. that are turning to myanmar. >> reporter: they arrived to discuss a deal. the leader of the delegation aims to make an agreement to employ trainees. >> translator: we can tackle a range of problems if we have access to skilled labor. he visited a sewing factory. he found people hard at work. well aware that competition for

young workers is growing. in myammar there's a serious labor shortage. he learned more and more people a heading off to asia to work. he's hoping to lure them to japan. it stipulates the country will continue to send over skilled workers and the japanese will look after them and help them find employment. they live in the company dorm and pay about $90 a month for rent and utilities. the trainees get free rice and other food. they also have internet in the dorm so they can stay in touch

with their families. >> the job is really fun. i'm keen to learn about japanese language, life and work. >> translator: foreign trainees are a big asset. companies deepen exchanges. >> reporter: business owners in rural japan can see domestic labor shortage woes won't ease any time soon. they feel the solution lies abroad. >> that's the latest in business news this hour. i'll leave you with a check on markets.

candidates in iran have started. it was incon clousikocon clus i. they won all the seats but did not obtain a majority overall. this round they're working together and hope to obtain another 40 seats. local media report they are neck and neck with anti-western conservative hard liners who

oppose. last year they negotiated with six world powers to lift sanctions against iran. the vote is scheduled for next friday. the nuclear deal is seen as increasing iran's influence. that's put strain on relations between u.s. and the gulf nations. president barack obama paid a visit to one of them, saudi arabia, in an effort to ease growing tensions. obama attended a summit of the gulf cooperation council.

obama reachssured the gulf countries. he referred to them as free riders in a magazine article. after the meeting, obama said the u.s. will deter and confront aggression against its allies but he's acknowledged disagreements. >> probably the biggest area where there's been tactical differences has been respect to iran. >> he stressed the importance of dialogue to reduce sectarian tensions. >> see them as exacerbating the sectarian tensions with respect to iran. they have been disappointed by

what they see. >> saudi arabia and iran back opposing sides in regional conflicts including the civil war in syria. a u.s. -- implementing sanctions on north korea for the launches. experts say officials in pyongyang may soon conduct the country's fifth nuclear test. special envoy for north korea song kim met with his chinese counterpart in beijing. >> the u.s. and china will remain united in our firm opposition to north korea's provocative and irresponsible behavior. and on the importance of implementing u.n. security resolution 2270 fully and faithfully. >> kim also addressed china's call for dialogue between washington and pyongyang.

he said the u.s. is open to meaningful diplomacy, but unfortunately, north korea has shown no interest in such discussions. our next story is part of our ongoing series of women in japan. getting around the country's crowded cities can be a struggle for anyone especially for those in wheelchairs. the task has become a bit more manageab manageable thanks to one woman's work. we have her story. [ applause ] >> reporter: she started an award winning website, wheelchair walker.

the idea came out of her own experience finding ways to get to difficult destinations. >> four and a half centimeters. can you imagine what that means. >> reporter: it means a high depth can't be overcome without help. walkers might not notice something that small. she has to pay attention. she grew up without serious health problems but around the time she hit 20, her legs started feeling unusual. two years later, she was diagnosed with distal myothopy. it involves muscle weakness. her husband and son help her meet the daily changes. overtime, activities are likely

to become more difficult. she has had to come to terms with a wheelchair a decade ago. eventually, she may have to stay in bed. >> i wish i could stop the increase in the number of things i can't do. somehow the less able i can do something, the more i believe i can. >> reporter: she started the wheelchair walker website in 2014. she thought she could help others by posting video of what she learned, but one woman can only do so much. >> i can't get to every part of japan myself. even if i visit someplace far from where i live, i can't collect information about barrier free conditions. i'm sure wheelchair users in those places know a lot though.

>> reporter: she came up with idea of a map that would allow people in wheelchairs to help each other. she and her corroborators propose the project to a program at google that targets social problems. it received the grand prize along with financial support. the test version went out in march. more than 50 people took part in the initial test. they started out from tokyo station to various destinations. they posted pictures of what they encountered. things like elevators, bathrooms and stair steps. running records from gps equipped smart phones showed accessible routes. they also recorded 360 degree images that reveal blind spots. the images will be uploaded through the next version of the app.

one fact became all too apparent, wheelchair users have hard time navigating. the team realized the process of taking pictures and posting information was much more demanding than expected. >> translator: i, myself, i can't do all that much. by working together, our project can accomplish a great deal. the app have its official release next spring. her physical ability is likely to diminish. she's already made life better for herself and many others. nhk world. time new for the world weather forecast. we're seeing sunny skies in tokyo. robert speta has the outlook.

>> if you can take a look at the satellite picture really high pressure is dominating most of the area including over towards kushu. definitely want some improving conditions. the last thing you need out here is some heavy rainfall. that's what we really seeing out here on thursday, but for the time being temperatures definitely on the rise. really our rainy season for stretching back here towards west across south eastern china over towards taiwan and the southern japanese islands. keeping that precipitation toward the south. as we go into saturday and sunday, it will start to lift back towards the north. just an area of low pressure breaking off of it. that should bring another round of showers for parts of kushu and over towards tokyo by the time sunday comes around. for the time being, sunnier skies and warmer temperatures dominating most of japan even toward the korean peninsula.

showers lingering toward the southeast. take a look at the three-day forecast. looking at showers all the way out through the week and taipei as well. you're looking at the start of the rainy season fairly soon. the official start and you see on friday you have showers. kicking back in once again on sunday. as i mentioned, tokyo above average temperatures through the weekend. by sunday you'll be looking at the area of low pressure coming from the south. a will the of times people ask what is the rainy season. we always talk about it as we go through april, may, june into july. some dynamics in place but overall this is just the changing of the seasons out here in eastern asia. during the winter we have the siberian high. very cold high back here towards the north. as things start to warm up that weakens and movers off toward the north. you start to see our rainy season front up. down toward south we have the pacific high that sets in. you get too high, you'll get a

low. that brings precipitation. as things continue to warm up, this builds toward the north. through the months, it continues to settle off there or even towards okkaido and far eastern russia with summer setting in down towards the south. i want to talk about the tropics. we have been talking about this storm system. one of the strongest on record here in the indian ocean since satellite observations began. this is still pushing hard down here towards the south through some vertical wind sheer. that's keeping it on weakening status. the biggest issue could still be coastal showers in the northern locations. we push over here toward the americas. houston, big topic all week. still looking at more thunder showers out here. you're still looking at

flooding. it's a slow go in some of their areas as the flood wears continue to drain out. we're going to be looking at clearing conditions. denver with a high of 25. things staying cool in winnipeg. i'll leave you now with your extended outlook.

>> that wraps up this

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rita aspinwall (voiceover): on this edition of native report, we meet artist wendy savage. but there were different beads at the time that had different colors, and you can't get those colors today. ernie stevens (voiceover): we attend the mash-ka-wisen pow-wow. rita aspinwall (voiceover): and we meet a trio of documentary filmmakers from finland who are chronicling the connections between ojibwe and finnish cultures. we also learn something new about what it takes to be a leader in indian country, and hear from our elders on this native report. narrator: production of native report is made possible by grants from the shakopee mdewakanton sioux community, the blandin foundation, and the duluth superior area community foundation [flute and guitar playing]