hello. this is nhk "newsline." i'm keiko kitagawa in tokyo. nhk has learned that the u.s. military has told japan's government it wants to resume midair refueling training in early january. the drills were suspended after a crash landing in southern japan involving a u.s. osprey aircraft earlier this month. the tilt-rotor aircraft was badly damaged in shallow waters off the coast of okinawa prefecture. on december 13th. the military says the crash landing was caused by a hose from an air tanker hitting one of the osprey's propellers during an aerial refueling drill. it restarted frights of ospreys six days later, saying the

aircraft, itself, had no problem. the u.s. military had told the japanese government it would resume refueling training after completing re-education of osprey pilots, checking training procedures, and conducting flight simulation exercises. the government had asked the u.s. side to provide information on safety measures to prevent a recurrence of similar incidents before restarting aerial refueling. a strong earthquake hit ibaraki prefecture north of tokyo on wednesday night. there was no threat of tsunami. the japan meteorological agency says the quake struck in the northern part of the prefecture at 9:38 p.m. japan time. tremors were felt in wide areas of eastern japan. the agency estimates the tremor had a magnitude of 6.3 and its focus was 11 kilometers deep.

>> translator: things fell on top of me when the quake hit. i got a nasty shock. >> officials at the nuclear regulation authority say there are no abnormalities at nuclear power plants and related facilities near the epicenter, including the fukushima daiichi plant. the weather officials have urged residents around the epicenter to stay alert. they say quakes of the same strength could occur in the next few days. with prospects for the transpacific partnership negotiations looking unclear, officials of the japanese and chinese governments have agreed to move forward with talks on another trade deal. wednesday with japanese deputy minister for foreign affairs katakami and chinese minister of comment gao yen attending. they agreed advance talks on the regional comprehensive economic

partnership or recep. the 16 member countries of that free trade agreement include japan, china, and southeast asian countries but not the united states. u.s. president-elect donald trump says he'll take america out of the tpp accord. observers say china wants to make rcep the basis for trade rules in the asia-pacific region. they stay. the leader of south korea's biggest opposition party wants a deal with japan about people referred to as comfort women to be canceled. the two governments reached the agreement in december last year. civic groups organized a rally to protest against the accord outside the japanese embassy in seoul. choo mi-ae of the democratic party of south korea accused

park geun-hye of using the deal to wipe the public's memory of the experience. members of a civic group placed a statue symbolizing the women in front of the japanese consulate general building. police and local officials asked the group to remove the figure. they said it was blocking o road. the activists refused. they surrounded it and staged a sit-in. it took police about four hours to disperse the group. officers took the statue away on a truck. the south korean government set up a foundation to support the women after the agreement was reached. the foundation has begun transferring cash from a fund of about $8.5 million contributed by the japanese government. so far 34 of the 46 women who are alive say they support the arrangement. but public criticism against the deal is intensifying after president park was suspended from office over political scandal.

a passenger train has derailed in northern india. authorities say 62 people were injured, some of them seriously. railway authorities say the 15-car train came off the tracks near the city of kanpur. the train was traveling from the eastern state of west bengal to the western state of rajasthan. there was reportedly dense fog in the area at the time of the derailment. >> translator: no passengers are left in the derailed carriages or in the ones that fell into the canal. everyone has been rescued. everyone has been sent to their destinations after first aid and refreshments. >> india has one of the world's largest railway networks, but accidents occur frequently due to aging equipment and lax safety management. in november, 145 people were killed when a passenger train derailed also near kanpur.

a tsunami-hit area is reaching a new phase of reconstruction. it was one of the worst-hit areas more than five years ago. the city center is now having major work done with an elevated area and large commercial facilities under way. but infrastructure isn't the only thing that needed help. so as cranes raised buildings across the city, a longstanding local event is being used to raise spirits. nhk world reports. >> reporter: this annual event is not a race. nearly 1,000 participants this year choose between four tours of the city to enjoy the views of nature as well as areas of reconstruction.

it's been going on for years, and the city government launched it after the area was leveled by the 2011 tsunami. the cycling event is the highlight of this woman's year. the 91-year-old has come every time to cheer the bikers on. >> translator: i brought pictures from last year. >> translator: i'll be waiting for you next year. >> reporter: organizers have added other activities. they conducted a special city tour the day before the main event. this man came from singapore to race here for the first time. he says he wants to witness the reconstruction process with his own eyes. he visited the building that was once used as a road station. the 14-meter-high tsunami submerged almost all of it. they also entered an area that's off limits to the public where the damage was left unchanged.

this huge amount of land is being preserved as a memorial park. >> a lot of things, they learn something from the disaster. they tried to improve it. >> reporter: keiko okamoto is a local resident. ang will be staying with okamoto. part of a new program to foster a stronger connection to the area. okamoto tells ang about the city hall that was reconstructed with singaporean money. >> translator: after the tsunami there was nowhere we could gather to hold events or meetings and it was very hard on our spirits but this magnificent hall was built because singapore donated a large amount of money. we feel very grateful. >> reporter: okamoto is hosting ang at her relatives' house.

that's because okamoto's home was destroyed by the tsunami. she and her family went from one shelter to another and eventually ended up living here. >> translator: i'm very happy and grateful to take care of others. i got to where i am thanks to the support of many people. ♪ happy birthday >> reporter: and after finding out about ang's 45th birthday, she secretly bought him a cake. on the day of the event, okamoto gave him a sendoff at the starting line. >> translator: please tell the people of singapore that we are grateful to them. >> okay, okay.

>> if i choose to stay in a hotel, i'll be alone in the room waiting for the race today. what i heard in the hosts and i heard on the tour i get to learn more about the restoration effort. >> translator: when i meet with visitors and have a good time, it boosts my spirits. the accumulation of these experiences help us to move forward little by little. >> reporter: the scars left by the tsunami are still deep. but like okamoto, many residents think with these kinds of interactions, they can turn the corner. seigi ishikawa, nhk world. the japanese government estimates it will take more than 40 years to decommission the crippled fukushima daiichi nuclear plant.

one challenge is encouraging young people to become engineers and researchers to continue the process. so a network of technological institutes has held a robotics competition to spark interest. nhk world has more. >> reporter: students from technology colleges around japan are at a research center developing robots for decommissioning the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. this is a mockup of the daiichi facility. the students will build robots to help with decommissioning the plant. the machines will compete against each other at the mockup. the contestants must create a robot that can work within the current environment of the nuclear plant. because the plant has thick walls, the robots can't be controlled by wireless signals. they have to work in the dark, operated remotely.

and because of the high radiation levels, cameras and semiconductors will only work for a short time unless they are covered up. each team has to choose between operating their robot over rough terrain or climbing up stairs. and it has to carry an object or survey the surrounding area. >> translator: working with practical restrictions makes it more interesting. >> translator: i want to apply what i've learned at school in a place where this technology is needed the most. >> reporter: a team from fukushima is developing a robot that can carry objects up stairs. >> translator: we're the closest school to the power plant. we want to create a robot that can be used in decommissioning work. >> reporter: their college is about 50 kilometers from the crippled plant.

yusuke itoi is designing the group's robot. since the nuclear disaster, he's begun learning about atomic energy and now he wants to contribute to the decommissioning work. >> translator: this is the main crawler that moves the machine itself. and this subcrawler is used for climbing the stairs. >> reporter: the team decides to make a type of reinforced plastic to protect the robot's camera from radiation. they have mixed copper powder with polyester resin to go between layers of fiberglass. >> translator: it's pretty cool to make your own material. >> reporter: the material will block 50% of the gamma radiation. this will give them extra time in the competition. >> translator: this is our first attempt. we intend to work on each challenge as it arises.

>> reporter: 15 teams have come from around the country to take part in the contest. the fukushima team makes its final adjustments. they are attaching rubber to the belts to help the robot climb the steps. the camera's radiation shield is now in place, too. the competition begins. each team has come up with creative approaches. but they all find it hard to complete their missions. many have problems controlling their robots remotely, as they can't actually see them. it's time for the fukushima team to get to work. the stairs are quite steep. and the robot is unable to handle the 41-degree angle. the robot only manages to climb one step before the time runs out.

the winners were the team from osaka. they scored high points for using two robots together. one pushing and the other pulling. the fukushima team won a special prize for its radiation shield. >> translator: i realize now that nuclear decommissioning will not be easy. i want to make more improvements and use these ideas in designing robots. >> reporter: robots will be essential for the work of decommissioning the nuclear plant, so the challenge now is to inspire future engineers to develop the technology needed to complete the task. the president of a japanese advertising giant says he will

resign over an employee's overwork-related suicide. labor authorities have also referred dentsu to prosecutors. they suspect the company violated labor laws by forcing employees to work excessively long hours. >> translator: as the president, i feel a lot of responsibility for what happened. i sincerely apologize to ms. matsui takahashi, who committed suicide, and her family, as well as all the people in japanese society. >> he also said the company had been trying to improve its working environment based on advice from authorities. 24-year-old matsui takahashi killed herself about a year ago. officials of the tokyo labor bureau began their probe last month. they ruled her death was due to overwork. they suspect takahashi and her colleagues were forced to underreport their working hours.

they say this prevented the figures from exceeding overtime limits to which management and the labor union had agreed. labor authorities searched dentsu's offices in osaka, nagoya, and elsewhere. the investigation continues. police in france may have a new lead in a case involving a missing japanese woman. they zeroed in on a message first believed to have been sent by her. they're investigating the possibility it was sent by someone else in an attempt to delay the search. 21-year-old narumi kurosaki disappeared in early december. she was last seen having dinner with another foreign student. a classmate received a text message from her phone after she failed to show up for class. it said she was going to sort out a problem with her passport at the japanese consulate office in lyon. the school contacted police

about a week later to inform them she had not returned. it appears she hadn't visited the consulate office. police are trying to track down the male student she was last seen with. japan's auto industry provided much of the horsepower for the country's post-war economic growth. cars were being made in japan much earlier than that, though. as our next story shows, an innovative model from the 1930s is back on the road. >> reporter: the kurogane yonki was the first compact four-wheel drive auto to be mass produced anywhere in the world. manufacturing started in 1936. the former imperial army used the vehicles for reconnaissance and communication.

when the war ended, production stopped. of the 4,700 cars that came out of the factory, only 6 were known to still be around. a few years ago, another one turned up at an auto repair shop in kyoto. nagata owns the business. the car was manufactured in 1938. nagata's father bought it around 1955. >> translator: back then, a four-wheel drive vehicle was rare. i still remember staff members taking it for a spin. in their free time. >> reporter: eventually the kurogane yonki wore out. three years ago a nonprofit group offered to revive it. the head of the organization visited to check on the

vehicle's condition. the prognosis was good. >> translator: automobiles are a way of understanding industrial history. i want to restore the car so future generations can learn from it. >> translator: more than anything, i want people to know that this unique automobile was made in japan. >> reporter: the car was transported to another city for restoration. original parts were used whenever possible. here's the engine as it was. after disassembling it, the team members concluded they could repair most of the parts. they also were able to rescue the door by replacing the bottom part with new steel plates. the driver's seat couldn't be salvaged. some other items, however, were

switched out for components found at auction. they had been confiscated by the soviet army during the war. engaging this lever while pressing a button activates the turn signal. after two years it was ready to roll. the team refashioned the body's curved shape and the original color. >> translator: my mission has been making this car run again. that's kept me motivated to work hard all this time. >> reporter: auto enthusiasts turned out to see the fully restored kuranoga yonki. >> translator: cool. >> translator: the body is round and smooth. it has a warmth that modern cars lack. >> reporter: nagata came from kyoto to watch the test run.

>> translator: it's starting to move. wonderful. >> reporter: after decades, the engine was revving. >> translator: the car has been resurrected. i hope many people will get a chance to see it. >> reporter: eight decades is a long life span for any piece of equipment, especially a car. thanks to the efforts of the restoration team, this one is like a kid again, headed to the future in high gear. time now for the world weather update with our meteorologist robert speta. it was pretty chilly this morning here in tokyo. it's a typical year-end atmosphere. robert, give us the outlook going into the new year weekend. >> we, actually, we have been seeing this winder weather setup. temperatures continue to drop

across much of japan. you can even see that on our satellite imagery, those classic sea-effect snow clouds coming in from the northwest toward the southeast, starting to bring in fairly heavy know across the mountains of honshu and even more is in the forecast. just because of those gradient-induced winds picking up the moisture out here. whenever we see this, heaviest typically down here, actually in niigata, japanese alps included, you u could see over 40 centimeters of total snowfall. also back toward hokkaido as well to about 30 centimeters. now that is really in the mountains. if you have any travel plans, new year's holiday is coming up, a lot of people are going to be traveling. these are the areas you could be seeing some delays, maybe even cancelations. especially on the roadways being very congested. tokyo, on the other hand, staying cool but dry. those mountains really stop most of that moisture. in fact, temperatures will continue to cool off. now, this is creating some problems back toward the west. that area of high pressure, that's going to be sitting in place creating the air pollution in northeastern china.

right now beijing, air quality's pretty decent, but once that sets in over the next 48 hours, do expect it to continue to deteriorate. warnings have been put out by china meteorological agency in that manner. back toward the east, seoul with a high of zero. that's going to stay on the chilly side. tokyo at 13. it will continue to cool off even heading into friday and around the new year's holiday. nagano, you're looking at heavy snowfall if you're traveling there. same even over toward naha. relatively colder and a lot of people like to head to that subtropical island around the holidays. but how about sapporo, much of hokkaido, temperatures linger around the freezing point. one thing people do when they do head to the mountains, head out on vacation, is set up onsens for the holiday. i'll show you this video. not people but monkeys. the japanese macaques, known as the snow monkeys up there, having a nice little bathe. you can see these around nagano as well quite often. it's really a unique sight. the past 24 hours, temperatures

were below the freezing point. so it was exceptionally cold. that's one way, very cute, one way to stay warm in the colder weather. now where you don't need to be staying warm in that type of matter is down here toward the south. across new south wales, heat advisories in place in australia. in fact, sydney pushing up near the 40-degree mark. the australia bureau of meteorology putting out advisories advising people to keep cool. try not to drink sugary drinks, especially alcohol, if you are out over the holiday in that heat because temperatures are going to continue to soar. now maybe you might get a little cool down into melbourne. a frontal area pushing through. some thunderstorms today. temperatures will be dropping off as well. 28 to 24 to 21 by the 1st. sydney, on the other hand, staying hot all the way up through the new year's holiday. also here across north america, do want to mention in the northeast you could be seeing exceptionally rough travel weather for you there, too,

especially in new england. about 40 to 45 centimeters of snowfall possible with a low pulling through right now. but it's combined with wet snow and wind. so power outages and slick roads definitely going to be a big issue. behind it, though, it is pretty calm setting up across the central plains on thursday. all right. here's your extended outlook.

that's all for this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm keiko kitagawa in tokyo. thank you for watching.

♪ >> today on "in good shape." how to relieve some arthritis pain by adding some spice to your diet should take the plunge with aquacyling. and, in honor of world aids day, find out more about drug therapies and promising new research. and here is dr. carsten lekutat