e headlines for this hour. people in singapore and around the world are paying tribute to the late lee huan yew, the founding father and leader who turned the nation into a wealthy economic hub. a plan to relocate a u.s. air base in southern happen is deepening the rift between the central and local governments. and the stormy spring sumo

tourney lives up to its billing as the championship race goes down to the wire. we'll tell you who came out on top. people in singapore are mourning the man who transformed the island from a colonial trading port into a rich and thriving city-state. former prime minister lee kuan yew has died at the age of 91. nhk world's mark ho reports. >> reporter: the memorial outside singapore general hospital continues to grow. for days people have left flowers, cards and other tributes to lee kuan yew as his condition worsened. now people of all backgrounds at this multi-ethnic nation are coming to terms with his death. >> mr. lee, rest in peace, we know you have done a lot for singapore and future generations. >> i fis you very, very much.

>> reporter: lee's son the current prime minister went on television to speak to a nation in morning. he delivered an emotional address in malay, chinese and english. >> lee kuan yew was singapore. as prime minister he pushed us hard to achieve what has seemed impossible. after he stepped down he guided his successors with wisdom and tact. >> reporter: during his decades in power lee kuan yew came to define singapore, even symbolize it. the cambridge educated lawyer became prime minister in 1959 when singapore earned the self-governing status from britain. the island later joined the federation of malay and then became independent in 1965.

lee transformed his nation into a global economic powerhouse. his government used singapore's strategic location to lure business and talent. and it offered incentives as it worked to build up industries such as ports, shipping, and finance. some criticized lee for his heavy handed approach to democracy. he soothed his political opponents, and he put tv stations and newspapers under strict government surveillance. but in the days leading up to his death, and now, most memories in singapore are fond. many are praising the man who raised living standards to first world levels within a few decades. >> we see the development in singapore from a very rundown area to what we are today. and it is a big job. >> reporter: lee stepped down as

prime minister in 1990. but he remained in the cabinet until 2011. and maintained a strong influence on government. his last public appearance was november 2014. lee was admitted to hospital at the beginning of february. he was suffering from severe pneumonia. many will feel lee kuan yew's absence this august when singapore celebrates 50 years of independence. government officials have called for a national week of mourning. they'll hold a state funeral for their founding father on sunday. mark ho, nhk world, singapore. >> and tributes to lee kuan yew have been pouring in, of course, from around the world. japanese prime minister shinzo abe has offered his condolences and praise. >> translator: he was the founding father of singapore and

created the base of singapore's prosperity today. he was a great leader in asia. i offer my heartfelt condolences. >> chinese president xi jinping sent a personal message to lee's family. he called him an old friend to chinese citizens and the founder and builder of china/singapore relations. u.s. president barack obama said he appreciated lee's wisdom including discussions they had on his trip to singapore in 2009. obama said the talks were extremely important in helping him formulate his asia/pacific policy. u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon said lee was a legendary figure in asia widely respected for his strong leadership and statesmanship. a controversial plan to relocate a u.s. military facility in southern japan has

hit another roadblock. the governor of okinawa has taken the first step towards making defense officials reconsider the construction of the base. nhk world's yun yotsumoto explains. >> translator: i instructed defense ministry officials to stop all work that would change the conditions of the sea zone. >> reporter: okinawa governor takashi onaga urged defense officials to comply with his request. he said if they don't, he will revoke the approval of his predecessor to destroy the reefs, a necessary step in the construction of the u.s. military facility. onaga says it's highly likely that defense personnel have caused damage to reefs outside of the approved construction zone. japan's top government spokesperson says they don't accept onaga's request. >> translator: okinawa prefecture's move to suspend the government survey at this stage is extremely regrettable.

we had obtained construction approval from the prefecture after enough discussion with them. >> reporter: other government officials said they might take a countermeasure to continue the plan. the u.s. military has been present in japan since the end of world war ii. but a crime nearly two decades ago turned public opinion in okinawa against hosting american soldiers. and relocation of the base has been a thorn in japan/u.s. relations ever since. in 1995 three u.s. servicemen were charged with the rape of a 12-year-old local girl. people in okinawa took to the streets to show their anger over the attack. and government officials from both countries agreed to abolish the air station and return the land to the people of okinawa. but, the agreement fell far short of what many local people wanted.

both governments announced that futenma would be relocated within okinawa, reclaiming a coastal area along the northeastern shore. in 2013 prime minister shinzo abe announced measures to revitalize the prefecture's economy. he promised to allocate the equivalent of $2.9 billion to okinawa each year for eight years. the then-governor approved the landfill plan shortly thereafter. last year, a new governor was elected, who is opposed to the plan. tash shi onaga wants to get rid of futenma altogether. okinawa is japan's southernmost prefecture. the island district accounts for less than 1% of japan's land but it hosts more than 70% of the u.s. military facilities in the country. onaga says japanese people must

share the burden of hosting u.s. forces if the forces are essential to the country's security. jun yotsumoto, nhk world, tokyo. now, let's see what's happening in the world of business. here's ron madison from the biz desk. ron? >> well, miki the head of japan's central bank has dismissed concerns over the recent inflation slowdown. he says inflation will pick up once the impact of cheaper oil prices settles down. prime minister shinzo abe and bank of japan governor haruhiko kuroda exchanged views on global and domestic economic trends. their meeting was the first since last september. kuroda later hinted the grate will gradually approach the boj's target of 2% with the help of the bank's massive monetary stimulus. >> translator: there is no change in the upward trend of consumer prices. once the effects of lower oil prices start to fade the rate

of inflation will likely rise. >> the boj introduced the stimulus nearly two years ago to pull the country out of deflation. but inflation has recently slowed to less than 1%. that's excluding the portion attributed to the consumption tax hike last april. well the bank of japan will release its closely watched gauge on business sentiment on april 1st. economists at major japanese research firms are expecting that the tankan survey will show a brighter mood at both large and small companies. boj officials released the report every three months. for the next survey economists at all but one of the eight major research institutes are predicting optimism in the manufacturing industry. six of the institutes expect to see a better mood in the nonmanufacturing sector. seven of them also predict improvement among smaller manufacturers. the economists say japan's exporters are happy to see the yen's value levels off at lower levels against the dollar. they also say the plunge in crude oil prices has helped to cut costs for manufacturing and

transportation. all right let's get a check of the markets now. tokyo stocks continued their upward momentum following strong gains that we saw on wall street on friday. the benchmark nikkei climbing today just about 1% 19,754. the highest level that we've seen in just about 15 years. analysts say investors bought shares on expectations of improved corporate earnings. well investors in shanghai remained bullish today. the winning strike of the composite index continuing into a ninth straight session. the index closing up today just about 2% 3,687. sydney opened higher in fact it neared the key 6,000 mark. profit taking kicked in though and the market actually finished lower 0.3%. 5,956. overall markets in the asia pacific region ended mixed. hong kong's hang seng rose just about half a percent while seoul ended flat. well japanese officials say they're going to be working harder with europeans on harmonizing technical standards.

the aim is to narrow differences on safety and quality requirements between the eu and japan. the officials say they're looking at 12 areas now. one involves safety standards for preventing degradation of fuel tanks for fuel cell vehicles. another will focus on quality standards for preventing malfunctions of robots that provide care to the elderly. the officials say they'll set up a task force for each field, and ask the private sector to join the effort and share opinions. they hope to get agreement on common standards in some of the areas with their eu counterparts as early as next year. well certainly a lot of hope riding on fuel cell cars as an eco-friendly alternative to gasoline vehicles. but a dearth of fuelling stations has kept the cars off the roads. so a group of japanese firms has developed a mobile fuelling station. the station is installed on a truck and carries enough hydrogen for five cars. it's run by a joint partnership between trading firm toyota

tsusho and gas providers nippon sanso and iwatani. >> translator: installing this type of mobile hydrogen station will make it easier to use fuel cell cars. >> the cost of setting up the mobile unit just about $2 million. that's roughly half the price tag of a regular hydrogen station. they're set to begin operating on fuse. the people who manage hot springs in one central japanese town are changing their ways. they've been seeing a dip in business so they're adding some more personal touches now to make sure that their guests keep on coming back. >> reporter: this is a hot spring that has long stood in central japan's toyoma prefecture. but compared to its peak 50 years ago the number of guests has fallen by almost half. so the inns here are trying different ways to connect with customers.

they hope to make sure that a first visit to the inn isn't the last. this hotel is making a culinary appeal. toyoma is located on the coast so it's known for its fresh seafood. a chef uses traditional seasoning to bring out the flavor of the fish and the shrimp. the gourmet meal is delicately arranged in a traditional lunch box. this exkwils it meal normally wouldn't be cheap. but the hotel gives it as a souvenir to guests for free. the inn hopes that opening this lunch box will bring back fond memories of a stay. >> translator: there are so many local delicacies. that's why i hope giving our guests this lunch box will allow them to try more. i also hope it will help them to remember us and want to come again.

>> reporter: at another hotel, they encourage guests to write a letter. one that's a little different than usual. this visitor writes about fond memories of her stay. she describes good times with fellow travelers and seasonal delicacies. but she won't be sending this letter to friends or family. the person receiving it will be herself. hotel employees will mail the message to her one year later. they call it the future letter. they hope that it will make guests feel like visiting again. the hotel believes it will be more effective than a mass mailing sent out by the staff. >> translator: the idea is fairly simple.

it might not bring an immediate result, but when our guests receive the letter a year later, they will remember spending time in unazuki. it's a kind of long-term strategy. >> reporter: the hotel will prepare perks for guests who bring the letter back with their next visit. traditional hospitality and continuing innovation. the manager hopes both will bring these guests back again. well the unazuki hot spring resort is catering now to a growing number of foreign customers and the resort hopes that their future letter will help share their experiences with the world. all right that is going to do it for biz this hour. let's see how things are looking on the markets.

japanese foreign minister kishida says japan will try to take a more active role in nuclear disarmament. japan hopes to have its proposals on arms reduction included in a document to be adopted at a u.n. conference on

the nuclear nonproliferation treaty next month. kishida spoke to the mayors of the two atomic bombed cities hiroshima's, and nagasaki in tokyo. the two expressed hope the u.n. document will include a call for a comprehensive ban on possessing nuclear arms for all countries. >> translator: i think it is very important for us to have a presence in the field of nuclear nonproliferation and arms reduction. we will do our utmost to exert leadership. >> kishida noted this year marks the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings. he said japan will ask nuclear armed nations to disclose more information about their stockpiles. the spring grand sumo tournament wrapped up its 15-day

competition on sunday. our play by play sumo announcer hiro morita tells us all about it. >> entering the day on friday the 13th day of the tourney yokozuna grand champion hakuho was undefeated. at this point his chances of clinching the championship looked very good. his opponent was mongolian compatriot who wanted to keep his title hopes alive. if hakuho wins he becomes the first man in 42 years to clinch the championship on day 13 in back-to-back tournaments. he has surprised everyone with his outstanding performance in osaka. he attacks hakuho. he gets a strong left hand grip on the yokozuna and keeps up the pressure. hakuho desperately tries to shake off ter ma fuji but he can't. he starts driving hakuho back and over the straw bales.

the storm strikes osaka as hakuho is upset and deprives him of his championship. for hakuho it was his first loss of this year and his 36th bout winning streak had come to an end. having said that he still came into the final day leading the pack. he needed just one more win to walk away with the emperor's cup. hakuho is gunning for his sixth consecutive championship and 34th overall. his opponent is another fellow mongolian yokozuna harumafuji. hakuho thrusts and keeps harumafuji away. harumafuji rallies and gets a bell grip on hakuho. hakuho goes for the foot sweep but it didn't work and harumafuji charges. both refuse to give in.

harumafuji launches but hakuho manages to get his go-to weapon the left-hand outside grip and he's in business. hakuho flexes his muscles one last time and finally beats harumafuji. hakuho is the spring tourney champion. now we'll turn our attention to the man we've been keeping our eye on teramafuji. he finished the competition with an impressive 13 wins and two losses.

his excellence was noted by the sumo elders. his record included wins over hakuho and a couple of ozeki champions and he stayed in contention until the very last moment. that's why he was awarded not only one but two special honors. the wonderful outstanding performance as well as the fighting spirit prize. what an exciting competition in osaka. be sure to join me again in may for more extensive coverage of the summer tournament in tokyo. it's time now for world weather with our meteorologist sayaka mori. sayaka we tokyo residents are enjoying calm spring weather. but people in northern japan are still dealing with snowstorm. what's the latest? >> yes, miki. spring started a couple of days ago in the northern hemisphere but still like winter up in the

north. we're talking about winter storm conditions over hokkaido down towards the hokuriku region. this is a very big winter storm. and it's going to stay here for awhile. so an additional 40 centimeters of snow could fall in to tomorrow morning, and more snow afterwards, with gusts of nearly 110 kilometers per hour. the combination will cause very low visibility so traveling is extremely dangerous. and also waves are going to be up to six meters so coastal flooding is highly likely. but very different story over the southern half of the country. due to the recent warm-up. cherry blossoms are starting to bloom. we have some fixtures coming out of the tokyo area. cherry blossoms are starting to bloom in tokyo today. this is three days earlier than normal. but two days later compared to last year. jna declares the start of the cherry blossom season for tokyo when five buds blossom on a tree in yasukuni shrine. the peak will be next tuesday in tokyo and we associate cherry

blossom with spring so definitely we are very waiting for this warm season. now, take a look at this cherry blossom forecast for japan, as well as south korea. cherry trees, cherry blossoms will start to bloom earlier than normal in many parts of south korea, and the blossoms will move up to the north as we go into may across japan. now for a bigger picture a couple of highs are creating dry conditions for the northern half of china and the korean peninsula. but thunderstorm advisories are posted for the south of china. and across the indochina peninsula, heavy rain fell in the bangkok area over the past 24 hours. more to come in to tuesday in the central and northern areas of the country. now, down towards the southern hemisphere we have been watching tropical cyclone nathan. nathan made landfall in queensland last week, and it made the second landfall over the week -- over the northern areas of the northern territory. and that is about to make the third landfall as a category 3 system. the landfall will be around

tuesday morning. very destructive winds, as much as 170 kilometers are likely. and then move along the coast towards the west in to wednesday or even thursday. so heavy rain is likely to happen over a wide area some areas will see an additional 200 millimeters of rain. the ground is already very well saturated. additional rain worsening the situation. and across europe nasty weather continues over the mediterranean countries. we have one system over italy that has caused flooding in sardinia on sunday. now, the threat of thunderstorms, gusty conditions heavy rain will continue into monday morning for the south of italy, and the balkan peninsula. the system will move out as we go in to the latter part of monday. but new system will come in from the east. we have a strong system rotating over the iberian peninsula. this area will see heavy thunderstorms as well as heavy mountain snow. temperatures are in the double digits for many areas, but still chilly over the east. 3 degrees for the high in

moscow. but temperatures will warm up as we go into wednesday. all right. that's all for now. here's the extended forecast.

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

i'm miki yamamoto in tokyo. more news coming up at the top of the hour. thanks for watching nhk world.

place. the extreme right party failed to top the polls. that is hard-line republican senator ted cruz. he says he is running for president. and the founder of singapore has died. lee kuan yew transformed the country into a