lcome to "newsline." here are some of the stories we're following this hour. japanese authorities are urging one of the country's largest rail operators to step up their safety checks after an incident on a major line in tokyo. former u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton has officially jumped into the race to become president. and people in japan are seeing a new opportunity to make money from vacant offices,

shops, even private homes. japanese authorities are ordering one of the country's biggest rail operators to improve their safety standards. they say power line polls that engineers knew were leaning fell on to the tracks. and it could have caused a major accident on one of tokyo's busiest lines. more from nhk world's ciaki, ishikawa. >> reporter: 1 million people use this line every day. the 35-kilometer loop runs through central tokyo. commuters only have to wait three minutes for a train. the line is often described as the symbol of japan's high-tech transportation system. the line connects major stations. not only business people and students, but also many tourists use the line as a way of getting

around the city. this is a view of jr station after the accident. a collapsed pole can be seen just in front of a stopped train. the problem was found around 6:00 a.m. on sunday by a driver on the line which runs parallel with the yamanote line. it forced the suspension of services on some of the lines. workers fixed the problem, but service was suspended for more than nine hours. about 400,000 people were inconvenienced. >> for us, the perfect metro line. normally it's perfect. normally it's really right on time and very accurate. >> the accident doesn't allow us to go to our hotel. we took three hours to go to our hotel. >> reporter: company officials

say they had noticed the poles leaning two days prior, but they didn't think the problem was urgent and decided to leave them until monday. a city official from the transport ministry instructed the company to thoroughly ensure the safety of its operations. he also told them to file a report on the cause of the collapse. >> translator: this travel might have caused a serious accident. we take it very seriously. >> reporter: the operator is now inspecting 50,000 spots where the metal poles are placed. they say service is back to normal, and they're pledging to do all they can to ensure something like this never happens again. chiaki ishikawa nhk world, tokyo. japan's top government spokesperson says the results of sunday's local elections suggest

voters support the prime minister's economic policies. shinzo abe's ruling liberal democratic party won in the two prefectures where its candidates for governor went head to head with the opposition. the ldp also remained the leading party in 40 of 41 prefectural assemblies it contested. >> translator: i think the results show high support and expectations for abenomics including revitalization of local communities. >> suga stressed the government and ruling coalition will coordinate to reinvigorate local community so more people will feel the improvements of the economy. former u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton has made it official. she's formally entered the 2016 race for the white house. it's clinton's second bid to become the first woman president of the united states. she announced her candidacy in a

video posted online. nhk world's uri ito has more. >> i'm getting ready to do something too. i'm running for president. >> reporter: the two-minute video focuses on stories of every day americans. clinton then says she's running because she wants to be their champion. observers say she's learned from her 2008 defeat by barack obama for the democratic party's nomination. >> 2007 when she announced her campaign in her rally in iowa, the first rally she appeared at she said i'm in it and i'm in it to win it. this time she's making it all about the voters. >> reporter: and this time the former first lady is the most promising democratic contender with about 60% of her party's support. >> i think we need a president like hillary, somebody who's

strong, has an amazing record as both a strong leader and a progressive leader so i'm extremely excited. >> she's very experienced, has a lot of years of experience. she's very accomplished. she's not afraid of a fight. >> reporter: u.s. president barack obama has also offered his backing for his former secretary of state. >> she was an outstanding secretary of state. she is my friend. i think she would be an excellent president. >> reporter: but experts say clinton's relationship with obama may affect her chances. >> you know there's voter fatigue with the incumbent, in this case president obama. part of it will depend on what the economy is doing and how people see their own economic circumstances. how popular is obama and how much they associate hillary clinton with him.

but this is a tough election. >> reporter: her opponents are likely to play up controversies like her use of a private e-mail account while she was secretary of state. republicans are hoping to take back the white house. senators ted cruz and rand paul have already announced they're running. senator marco rubio, former florida governor jeb bush and wisconsin governor scott walker are also expected to join the race. clinton will be hitting the road this week. her first stop will be in the key midwest state of iowa where she will begin her campaign by speaking directly to voters. yuri ito, nhk world. china was once known as the world's factory and exports were a big part of the economy. that picture may be slowly changing.e inginge ing changing. gene otani is here with the latest. >> exports and imports both dropped by double digits in the month of march from a year ago.

the drop is raising concerns about the country's economic outlook. customs authorities say the 15% drop is partly due to sluggish exports of phones to europe and japan. they also blame falling clothing exports as rising labor costs are weakening the competitiveness of chinese firms. imports were also down nearly 13% from a year ago. that's the fifth straight month of decline. imports of machinery and airplane-related items dropped as the domestic economy slowed. china's trade surplus for the month was just over $3 billion, down drastically from february. >> translator: it will take a great deal of effort to achieve this year's growth target for total trade volume. >> the spokesperson said that weakness in exports and imports are likely to continue for the time being.

checking the markets, despite the weak trade data the rally in chinese stock markets continued. the shanghai composite jumped 2.17%, hitting a fresh seven-year high. many investors are hoping the government will introduce more stimulus measures. hong kong extended its winning streak to eight sessions. the hang seng index climbed 2.7% ending at 28,016. that's the highest closing since december 2007. market watchers say investment from mainland china contributed to the rally. but the disappointing trading figures weighed down share prices in australia, which is china's major trading partner. sydney's s&p closed down 0.14%. tokyo stocks ended almost flat after choppy trading. the nikkei average closed down 0.01% at 19,905. analysts say some investors sold

shares to book profits after the index hit 20,000 on friday. and looking at other markets in the region seoul's cospi was up 0.35%, ending at the highest level since august 2011. indonesia closed down by 0.8%. one day before the policy meeting of the country's central bank. the bank of japan governor says he will continue with bold monetary easing to hit a 2% inflation target. haruhiko kuroda says the economy will likely remain on a moderate recovery path. kuroda spoke at a meeting with boj branch managers on monday. he said he expects inflation to stay at roughly 0% for the time being. once the impact of last year's consumption tax hike is excluded. kuroda said low energy costs are putting downward pressure on overall prices. some boj board members expressed concern last month that consumer

prices might fall slightly. kuroda said the boj will examine the risk factors that could cause economic activity and prices to fluctuate. he again insisted that the central bank is ready to carry out additional easing measures to end deflation. new figures on producer prices suggest how difficult it is to stem deflation when the effects of last year's consumption tax hike are removed from the calculations. prices of goods traded among companies fell in march for a fifth consecutive month. the adjusted producer price index number shows a 2.1% drop compared to a year earlier. still, the boj officials say the pace of decline is slowing as the crude oil market shows signs of stabilizing. when the tax hike is included the numbers show slightly higher prices for producers in march. prime minister shinzo abe has pledged to accelerate the spread of hydrogen vehicles in japan. the cars run on electricity

generated by hydrogen that reacts with oxygen in the air. many see them as an alternative to gasoline cars. abe opened central tokyo's first hydrogen station on monday. he called the filling station a symbol of the start of the hydrogen-powered society. >> translator: we are seeing infrastructure building on an unprecedentedly rapid pace and scale. japan has clearly become the front runner in the hydrogen energy revolution. >> abe said japan is the first country in the world to commercialize fuel cell cars and hydrogen stations. he said 76 filling stations are in planning across the country due to deregulation under his cabinet. company managers across japan are seeing their work space in a whole new light.

they're renting out unused rooms and factory floors to top up their earnings. >> reporter: this trading firm specializes in paper. in this showroom on display are a paper violin a reindeer, and other distinctive products. but at night -- ♪ this space hosts a bosanova class. the company rents the showroom out for weddings and live performances. its conference rooms are also available. this business brings in about $12,500 a month. leveraging its otherwise redundant spaces has brought the company new customers as well. people who come to the space for other reasons see the paper

products and end up buying them. >> translator: they're cute and make me feel relaxed. >> translator: i think it's great that people with no connection to our company at all come here and then buy our goods. >> reporter: with space reuse spreaded, a startup has launched an online match making service for lenders and borrowers. the company's database already features about 200 venues around the city ranging from buddhist temples to movie theaters. >> translator: it's hard to use any space 24 hours a day all year round, so i figured there must be idle time when spaces are empty. that's how i came up with our business idea. >> reporter: this old japanese residence can be rented for $250 a day. the 90-year-old wooden house was built using ancient japanese

construction techniques. today, cutting-edge 3d printers have been brought into this traditional home. they're for employees of a manufacturer of building materials who have gathered for a brainstorming session. four of them are foreigners hailing from germany, france and britain. they feel particularly inspired by the old architecture around them. the employees are shown a wind-up toy, which were popular 200 years ago in japan. put a cup on it and -- the staff begin their development meeting after the vintage toy got their minds turning. the unusual surroundings inspired active discussions. the team came up with a prototype smartphone holder for

the head. it lets you make hands-free video calls. >> translator: holding discussions in an old japanese home really inspired my creativity. >> this is yeah very -- well lovely. we loved the building in itself but also it's good to have this opportunity to mix the traditions and the new technologies. >> reporter: the potential of unused space is broadening widely through matchups of lenders and borrowers with new ideas and businesses being born. >> that's it for business news. i'll leave you with the markets.

analysts at a swedish think tank say world military spending dipped slightly last year but they say saudi arabia has seen a rapid buildup in its arms expenditures. analysts at the stockholm international peace research institute have released their annual report. it shows global spending fell 0.4% to $1.8 trillion down for a third consecutive year. the analysts attribute a budget cut in the u.s. which remains the biggest military spender. but it cut its spending by 6.5% to $610 billion.

the cut was mostly offset by increases in asia eastern europe, and the middle east. saudi arabia had the biggest hike by any of the world's top 15 military spenders. their spending grew by 17%. the saudi government is currently leading a coalition of forces against rebels in yemen. the report estimates china spent around $216 billion on its military, a nearly 10% increase over 2013. russia's annual spending grew by a little more than 8%. japan's expenditures remained about the same as the previous year. the country is the ninth biggest spender. the report says countries in asia and oesh ya that are lavishing more on their militaries. some fans of sake have

gathered in japan to taste their favorite drink. they're going to the soue of the traditional beverage, and they're getting a lesson on how it's made while raising a glass. nhk world has the story. >> reporter: rice is the pride of the city. the visitors came from places such as the u.s. and brazil. all work in restaurants or food establishments. this new yorker organized the tour. he chose this region to deepen the group's understanding of sake. >> i think that actually visiting the place where sake is made seeing the natural

environment environment, and in this case seeing the snow. >> reporter: from his base in new york sullivan holds seminars and events to spread the word about sake. he took his initial test ten years ago at the sushi shop in the city. it was love at first sip. sullivan writes about sake online and is well known in the u.s. as a passionate connoisseur. for this trip sullivan asked to allow a tour where the luxury sake is brewed. the site is generally off limits. the first stop is the room where koji is cultured. it's a type of yeast that is used to ferment rice.

>> translator: try putting it in your mouth. your mouth should be filled with a sweetness reminiscent of chestnuts. >> reporter: next the group enters the space where the sake itself is made. the facility has all the latest equipment, but it still relies on experts and experienced people. >> it's beautiful. i love it. so excited. >> reporter: finally, the visitors checked out the water. sullivan believes it's the most important element. the company draws water from a mountain spring filled with melted snow. nature, snow and water

collaborate to give it its one of a kind taste. sullivan says cuisines are an important element of local histories and cultures and food is linked to climate. >> translator: how is it? >> i enjoy it, yeah. absolutely. it's delicious. it's great. and it's great to have it here. what better place? >> i'm very very happy to be able to bring these participants here and to have dinner with the local food is a final step to really connect people with sake and the food and the culture. >> reporter: snow and sake are partners in the story of nigata. that is a tale being told and tasted around the world. naoko kawase nhk world.

cheers for that report. time now to check in on what's happening weather wise. rain has been soaking most of japan during today, monday and stormy conditions are expected as we go into tuesday. here's meteorologist jonathan oh with a look at the forecast. >> hello. umbrellas are definitely a big sight as we went through the day monday especially in tokyo, because we have a lot of rain that's covering japan and also moving through the korean peninsula. you can see the cloud cover. a big portion of the satellite perspective right now. and stormy weather is also part of this equation. i want to take you down toward tosashimizu, where we're seeing the effects of the storm as it moves onshore. strong winds causing rough seas. we're seeing wind gusts up to 105 kilometers per hour along the coast. record-breaking heavy rainfall. listen to this. 110 millimeters of rain in just

one hour. 340 millimeters of rain in 24 hours. now, the good news is the worst of the storm is over but there's a little caveat. we do have high wave warnings still in place. here's what's happening right now. we have one low-pressure system moving onshore. we have warm air coming in from the south. this sounds kind of familiar yes, because typically when we have a low-pressure system we have that intersection point of warmer air coming in from the south and cold air coming in from the west. when that smashes up together that's when we see the possibility of stormy weather. another low further back toward the west is going to help fuel this particular system as this colder air moves into japan. we're looking at the possibility of unstable weather. look out for the hail frequent lightning, along with flood and landslide conditions. for those of you who have been watching for a while, you may be more familiar with this but especially for the western side of japan, the ground is a little bit looser. so when you have so much rain falling in a short period of

time landslides occur frequently. we're not just talking about one more day of rain. we're looking at two or three more days of rain as these two low-pressure systems drop towards the east. high pressure towards china bringing warmer weather. temperatures in the 20s throughout the day tuesday. high of 24 in beijing. down to 23 in hong kong. and 20 in taipei. very warm temperatures as we go through tuesday. now as we take a look at the forecast for north america, i want you to notice this little developing system down toward the southwest. that's along a cold front that's moving through the central portions of the united states. we talked about severe weather last week. we're looking at the possibility of more severe weather throughout the day monday. we're not looking at a widespread situation, but we have the possibility of seeing thunderstorms from the great lakes down toward the deep south and also into the southern plains. maybe a slightly higher risk for some stronger thunderstorms over

into the central portions of texas. and i also want to point out right through the deep south we're looking at the possibility of seeing flash flooding. heavy rainfall just falling down really quickly in a short period of time up to 90 millimeters in some spots. be aware of the situation, especially if you're driving on the roadways. 22 in atlanta. 19 in oklahoma city. 16 in chicago. getting all wet as we go throughout monday. wrapping things up with a look at europe. high pressure on the western side of the continent. a low to the north will bring snowy conditions for parts of the skandcandinavian peninsula. a little bit of an active weather situation as we go through the day. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extended outlook.

and that's it for this hour's "newsline."

we invite you to visit our website for feature stories and special reports. while you're at it do drop us a line. thanks for watching. ñ

>> hello. it is 1:00 p.m. in the french capital's a let's look at what is making headlines this hour. throwing her hat into the ring -- former u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton is heading off for a tour of key states of the start of the campaign to become the first woman american president. voting is underway in sudan for the presidential and parliamentary elections could. and john marine le pen the founder of the far right national front, says he will not be standing in regional elections