welcome back to "newsline" i'm miki yamamoto in tokyo. first the headlines for this hour. prime minister shinzo abe is meeting with german chancellor angela merkel and they're discussing a variety of issues including china's activities in disputed waters. those activities seem to be gaining ground as images obtained by nhk suggest chinese leaders are pushing ahead with a reclamation project in the south

china sea. and business owners in a city on the japan sea coast are hoping the launch of a new high speed train line linking them to tokyo will bring them new opportunities. prime minister shinzo abe is meeting with german chancellor angela merkel to discuss issues of mutual concern. this is the first time in seven years that merkel has visited japan. japanese government sources say abe wants to confirm the two countries will continue to play an active role in contributing to global peace and stability. they say abe use merkel's efforts to force dialogue resolving the conflict in eastern ukraine. scattered fighting between pro-russian separatists and government forces continues in the region despite a cease-fire that has been in place since mid-february. abe wants to promote talks with germany in dealing with russia and extending support for ukraine. he's likely to suggest that

pressure on russia is necessary, and that sanctions alone aren't enough. also expected to be on the agenda is china's increased maritime activity in the east and south china sea. abe wants the g-7 nations to address the situation together. and speaking before her meeting with prime minister abe, merkel said that it is important to face up to history in order to improve ties with neighboring countries. merkel said germans will never forget that people in europe and the world reached out for reconciliation following the agony inflicted by nazi germany. she said that would not have been possible had germany not been willing to face up to history. merkel also spoke of her respect with a strong sense of unity displayed by japanese people following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

people in japan are preparing to mark the fourth anniversary of a disaster that changed so much. the march 11th, 2011 earthquake and tsunami killed more than 15,000 people. about 2600 others are still listed as missing. the disaster triggered one of the worst nuclear accidents in history. the fukushima daiichi plant suffered three meltdowns and three hydrogen explosions. radioactive contamination forced tens of thousands of people to leave their homes. evacuation orders are still in effect for large areas. work is under way to decommission the plant. but experts say the process will take 30 to 40 years. the operators of the facility has made some progress but it continues to face setbacks. nhk world's noriko okada reports. >> translator: you could say

we've made a big step toward decommissioning the reactors. but we have to be even more careful, as the work progresses. >> reporter: in december work was completed to remove spent fuel from the number 4 reactor building. the material needs to be cooled continuously in order to remain safe. this is being done in a separate building, a number four building was damaged by hydrogen explosions. the next step will be to remove fuel from the buildings where reactors suffered core meltdowns. an even more challenging tax is removing molten fuel. it is believed to have dried and hardened. researchers are still trying to find a way to remove it. >> translator: this is a huge challenge. we have to combine techniques in ways that we have never tested

before. some combinations will work but in other cases we will have so make fundamental adjustments. >> reporter: the decommissioning process is already behind schedule. problems involving radioactive water were the biggest cause of delays. last month, tepco executives announced that contaminated rain water has leaked into pacific ocean. they admitted that they knew about the situation as early as last april. tepco's response infuriated local fishermen. >> translator: we are truly very sorry for the worry and trouble we've caused the fishing industry. >> translator: why didn't you tell us honestly about what was going on when you knew about it since last year? we can't trust you anymore. >> reporter: another problem is groundwater that mixes with

highly radioactive water that is injected inside the crippled reactor containers. every day, about 300 pounds of contaminated water accumulates at the facility. tepco has set up nearly 1,000 storage tanks. but once they fill up there will be little space to add more. contaminated water isn't the only issue. heaps of black bags sit on the side of roads. they hold radioactive soil and other waste collected during decontamination work. the piles of waste have slowed down the entire rebuilding effort. leaders in fukushima allowed the central government to begin building the storage facilities. officials in tokyo hope they will start receiving shipments of waste this month. all tolled the government plans

to build intermediate storage sites over 16 square kilometers. but so far it has received permission to use only the two sites. their small size means they'll be able to hold only one tenth of one percent of the accumulated waste. government officials have been negotiating with over 2,000 land owners in a bid to buy more land. as of now, none of them have agreed to sell. noriko okada, nhk world. now, people in the united states are also honoring the victims of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami with memorial events. about 350 people attended a service on sunday held at a church in manhattan. the participants included local residents with ties to japan, as well as japanese citizens. they observed a moment of silence and watched a video with messages from people in the

disaster-hit areas. one was from nursery school children in fukushima prefecture. a woman who lost her parents in the disaster spoke about her experience. she said the disaster reminds us that every day is important, and should be lived to the fullest. at a ceremony in los angeles, buddhist monks chanted to remember the victims. american firefighters who were sent to northeastern japan were among those who attended. one participant recalled watching a live report of the disaster. >> i'll never forget the pain in my heart, as i knew people were being injured and dying there before my eyes. and their families and homes destroyed, and separate edd this was a major event in the world,

as well as japan. >> reporter: photos showing the devastation were on display. the event was organized by a los angeles resident. she was in kesen-numa one of the hardest-hit areas, when the disaster struck. >> translator: it's already four years ago, and i fear that people will forget what happened. >> reporter: she said she believes it is her mission to convey how horrible the disaster was to people in the u.s. echoes of 3.11 will continue all week. on wednesday, we'll have special coverage of the fourth anniversary of the march 11th disaster. we'll take you live to one of the hardest-hit towns and to the national memorial ceremony in tokyo. an investigation by the philippine military has shown that chinese leaders are busy

staking their claim in disputed waters. sources tell nhk some of the reclamation project in the south china sea could be used for military purposes. nhk has obtained reconnaissance photos the philippine military took earlier this year near the spratly islands. the images show the chinese have started reclaiming two new locations. one at michi reef and another at subi reef. sources say china has developed at least one square kilometer at the seven locations it's been working on. for example, strips of shoals that were under water at september at fiery cross reef have been reclaimed. the area is now three kilometers long and 200 to 600 meters wide. philippine military sources say crews are constructing a runway. and they say workers have been racing to put up a build-story building at other locations,

including gavin reef and johnson reef. our sources tell us the types of facilities and china's recent maritime activities suggest the reclamation project could be used for military purposes. they say the fasselcilityies could start opening by year's end. chinese authorities say the development is happening in waters under their control. but the philippines, vietnam, and other parties have competing claims in the south china sea. u.s. officials have expressed their concerns over china's activities in the region. china's foreign minister referred to the spratly project in beijing over the weekend. wang yi said no one should challenge what china does in its own backyard. japan's top government spokesperson is responding to another comment made by the chinese foreign minister on japan's post-war stance. wang said japan lost the war, and shouldn't lose its good sense 70 years on. yoshihide suga says japan maintains the country's post-war

stance. >> translator: japan has been a democratic nation for the past 70 years. since the end of world war ii. it has respected human rights observed the rule of law, and contributed to international peace. this will never change. that stance is receiving praise from around the world. >> prime minister shindo abe will deliver a statement on the 70th anniversary of the end of world war ii. it's thought that wang yi's remark puts pressure on abe to adhere to former prime minister tomiichi murayama's document. in 1995 murayama expressed deep remorse and offered a heartfelt apology for japan's past colonial rule and aggression in asia. all right let's go on to business news with ron madison. so ron, we have some positive sentiment out of japan's labor force. >> yeah, that's right. the cabinet office every month asks a lot of people a lot of

questions to get an idea about how they're feeling about the economy. this month we did see it break above that lower level that separates the pessimists from the optimists. the survey targets people in the service sector including retail clerks, they are reporting brisk sales from foreign tourists. officials at the cabinet office asked more than 2,000 workers each month how they feel about the economy. the economy watchers index for february stood at 50.1. up 4.5 points from a month earlier. it was the third consecutive month of increase a figure above 50 does suggest people are optimistic about business conditions. now respondents in department stores noted tourists from overseas bought lots of cosmetics, with particularly strong sales at stores in downtown tokyo. work ersatz supermarkets said consumers have more money to spare, thanks to a declining gasoline prices. the cabinet officials upgraded their economic assessment for the first time in eight months. the officials say a mild recovery is continuing despite

signs of weakness in some areas. the leading index that forecasts conditions a few months ahead also rose 3.2 points. it's now at 53.2. life insurers in japan have long put up with extremely low yields on the government bonds that they buy. but one company is no longer satisfied. industry sources say nippon life insurance plans to invest heavily in businesses with growth potential. the sources say the company may allocate as much as 8.25 billion dollars to investments and loans over the next three years. now that would be roughly double the amount the company spent during the past three years. the sources say nippon life executives are eyeing infrastructure, and environmental projects in emerging economies. they say company officials will also consider venture firms in japan. another life insurer is also planning to step up its investment in growth areas. a court in tokyo has sentenced a man to five years in

prison and fined him $25,000 for leaking data to a company in south korea. the data had come from toshiba and was related to the world's smallest flash memory chip. the trial for sugita was held at the tokyo district court on monday. he was found guilty of copying the data and handing it over to sk heines. he used to work at u.s. chipmaker san disk. that company does have a tie-up with toshiba. the judge called the case extremely malicious. he said that it had a great impact on society and inflicted serious damage on toshiba. sugita appealed his sentence. toshiba reached an out-of-court settlement last year. the south korean firm agreed to pay $270 million. all right. it is time to check the markets now. asian markets tracking losses on wall street, as investors speculated. there could be an early rate hike in the u.s. markets in the asia pacific region were lower this monday

with the exception as you can see there of shanghai. our one sow bright spot today. seoul closed down 1%. hong kong slipping nearly 0.2% after volatile trading. jakarta slipped from a record high last week. we're seeing it now lower 1.25%. japan's nikkei closing down nearly 1% 18,790. the biggest loss that we've seen there in five weeks. robust u.s. jobs data from friday sparked expectations that the fed could raise rates sooner than expected. and that led to a sell-off in equity markets. investors in australia cashed in on recent multi-year highs. the main index there closing down 1.3%. 5,821. the biggest drop in nine weeks. the shanghai composite recouped earlier losses and closed above the psychologically important 3,300 level. it's up 1.9%. a surge in banking stocks boosted the market today. well survey shows that

sales at more than 40% of businesses in areas that were hard-hit by the 2011 earthquake have yet to recover. private credit research firm toy keek u databank conducted the survey. it pulled about 3500 companies in miyagi iwate and fukushima prefectures. they compared sales figures from 2009 to 2013. about half the companies reported higher sales than before. 5.5% said the level was the same while 43% reported declines. breakdown shows that 70% of construction firms saw increased sales but fewer than half of businesses and other industries reported improvement. train passengers leaving tokyo are about to get a direct and faster way to travel to the japan sea coast. a new high speed line that cuts across the main island opens on saturday. the final stop for the hokuriku shinkansen will be kanazawa. business owners there have been

pretty busy upgrading, expanding and promoting their attractions. >> reporter: a number of restaurants have opened in the kanazawa station building. they're trying to offer something new and different to attract people who will arrive on the bullet train. this restaurant chain specializes in daimin. one special feature is the bowl. they are lacquer ware a traditional craft kanazawa is known for. the lacquer ware bowls are decorated by grooves carved in the wood. this is based on a technique found in the region. lacquer ware is not familiar to most people these days. so the restaurant manager hopes the bowls get customers a taste for the local culture.

>> translator: it's kind of classy. >> translator: now i feel like i'm in kanazawa. >> reporter: some companies have branched out into new types of businesses, prompted by the bullet train launch. these include a construction firm. it is now operating a hotel business. this facility has just opened near kanazawa station. >> translator: the construction business has benefited from the train project. when it ended, we thought, what next? and it was tourism. >> reporter: the company leveraged its know-how to construct the hotel building which has kanazawa written all over it. guest room entrances are fitted with lattice doors modeled on traditional homes in the region. the rooms even have gardens inside, to give guests the sense of the city's famous parks.

as this is the company's first hotel venture, it newly hired all its service staff. the unlikely recruits were people around 60 years of age. hotel managers believed they could do a better job of conveying the local charm to hotel guests. this man formerly worked as an artisan. >> translator: we have your name, address, and e-mail. >> reporter: he spent 30 years drawing kimono patterns for a living. he's now training to become a hotel receptionist. >> translator: kanazawa is a town of traditional arts and crafts. if i could help maybe i could tell the guests something interest ing interesting. >> reporter: the hotel is receiving lots of reservations.

>> translator: only six rooms are left for the opening day of the bullet train line. we hope the guests will like the hotel. and decide to come back again and again. hopefully they will let their friends know about the hotel, and its attraction. >> reporter: the hokuriku schengen seine line starts running this weekend. local businesses in kanazawa will find out if their efforts to draw visitors are on the right track. all right. that is going to wrap it up for biz this hour. let's get a recap now of the markets.

made a special visit to the gardens in northern tokyo to experience the country's plum blossoms. caroline kennedy enjoyed some of the 3,000 trees that are currently in full bloom. governor of the popular tourist spot masaru hashimoto hosted kennedy during her trip. school children were on hand to greet the ambassador who responded warmly. >> reporter: governor hashimoto briefed her on damage to the prefecture suffered during the march 2011 disaster and

progress with reconstruction. kennedy expressed sympathy for those affected by the disaster, and respect for their efforts to rebuild. it's time now for world weather with our meteorologist sayaka mori. sayaka people here in tokyo are popping up their umbrellas. are we going to need them again tomorrow? >> well miki the peak of heavy rain will be tonight. but as we go into tuesday, things will sunny and we won't need umbrellas anymore. but that's the case for tokyo. northern japan will face a very stormy day on tuesday. we're talking about flooding rains across the tohoku region and very strong winds, as much as 130 kilometers per hour likely, because these two lows will merge into one big system and eastern hokkaido, you'll see blowing snow condition even blizzard conditions could happen. addition of 50 centimeters of snow could fall. and this area has much more than average snowfall so far this winter. so additional snow will

definitely rate the concern of -- concern about avalanches and also structural damage. this winter still exists in the north but spring has already come across western japan. you can see these flowers are already in full bloom. now temperatures in tokyo reached 13 degrees on tuesday but we still have cold weather alerts posted for south korea, northeastern china. only 1 for the high in seoul, about 10 degrees lower compared to what it should be during this time of year. now it has been very cold across the eastern united states. so far this winter. and it was the coldest february on record for places like chicago, cleveland, and it was the snowiest february for boston. but some people enjoyed the combination of snow and cold weather. when it snows, anything that resembles a hill is a fair game for sledding. the famous steps at the philadelphia art museum known from the film rocky, were the first hill to go sledding for

the fun seekers. you could say the ride down was rocky, but these folks didn't mind. but you wouldn't -- you can enjoy this game anymore because temperatures are on the rise. take a look at these numbers. philadelphia, your high is going to be 12 degrees on monday quite warm as we go into wednesday, and some areas like toronto, boston new york you'll see average temperatures. so spring is definitely approaching you. meanwhile, flooding rains happening across the southern plains and the lower mississippi river valley. some areas may get up to 100 to 150 millimeters of rain in the next 24 hours. that is quite a lot for this region, so flash floods are very high concern. and, in fact about 140 people are killed due to flash floods every year on average in the u.s. it's very dangerous conditions could happen across the south. but especially texas you have been dealing with lack of rain so hopefully that will improve the drought conditions. now temperatures have fallen. 16 degrees in houston with rain

on monday. still sunny in l.a. with high of 24 degrees. and 15 degrees for the high in seattle. now finally over in europe we still have a cutoff low over the eastern and central parts of the mediterranean countries causing gloomy conditions. the highest concern is large hail as well as heavy precipitation for the south of italy and the balkan peninsula. and then we have a windmaker coming in to the british isles. 130 kilometers gusts could happen in ireland and this system will likely move into moreway on tuesday that will bring inland snow and also heavy coastal rain fall. temperatures are mild in many places. 12 degrees in berlin and beautiful weather for the iberian peninsula. here's the extended forecast.

that's all for this edition of "newsline."

i'm miki yamamoto in tokyo. we'll have more news for you at the top of the hour. thanks for watching nhk world. ֖

llegiance to islamic state. arrests have been made in the killing of boris nemtsov, shot dead outside the kremlin 10 days ago. the first flight around the world, a historic launch to prove it is possible to fly without fossil fuel. you are watching "france 24." thanks for joining us this hour. i am genie godula. troops from niger