here in japan it's 7:00 on a tuesday. i'm james tengan later to be joined gene otani from the business desk and jonathan oh. first the headlines for this hour. organizers of the 2020 tokyo olympics and paralympics have decided to stop using emblems by a japanese designer over allegations of copyright infringement. police in thailand arrested a second foreign suspect in last month's bomb attacks in bangkok.

he may be the key to the investigation. and people across japan took part in drills to prepare for possible natural disastersn the anniversary of the great kanto earthquake. the organizers of the 2020 tokyo olympics and paralympics decided to the to use emblems by a designer pulling them following allegations of play gir rich against kenijiro sano. >> translator: mr. sano told us he is worried people may not accept his designs and his work could hurt the image of the olympics. he told us he wants to withdraw the emblem as their creator. >> he said sano didn't admit to copying other people's designs to create the logos but the organizing committee said sano did admit using images on the internet without permission for materials he submitted for the selection. one is of a lobby at tokyo's

haneda airport. the committee will quickly look at ways to choose new logos for the games. since the committee pked sano's designed he has faced allegations of stealing from other artists. the emblems were made public in late july. sano's work was chosen from more than 100 candidates but days later, a belgian graphic designer filed a lawsuit in his country and said the olympic emblem is extremely similar to the logo for a theater he created two years ago. sano denied any wrongdoing. >> translator: i'm very surprised that i'm being accused by the belgian designer of stealing his idea. it's absolutely unfounded. >> the organizers of the tokyo olympics defended sano's designed and explained how they differ from the belgian work. among the other allegations people said pieces produced by sano's studio for beer maker looked similar to other designs.

the brewery pulled some items from its sales campaign at sano's request. another was a logo for a new public facility in the city of oita near tokyo. residents said it resembled a design by u.s. designer josh divine. the operator of the main venue of the tokyo olympics and paralympic games is about ready to start accepting bids for a new national stadium. officials with the japan sports council listed parameters in line with the decision announced last week by government officials. members of the jsc plan to issue a construction tender to one body that will undertake the entire project. they've placed limits on the costs, construction period and size. they say the total price tag must not exceed $1.28 billion. the construction deadline is set for april 30th, 2020.

but the international olympic committee requested the schedule be moved up so a target date has been set for january 31st. the stadium's capacity is set at 68,000 for the games. but the design will have to allow for an additional 12,000 seats for any future world cup soccer matches. jsc officials will begin accepting technical proposals in october that include detled plans. the winning bid will be selected by the end of this year. thailand's interim prime minister prayut chan-o-cha says another foreign man has been arrested in connection with the bombing of the shrine in bangkok last month and told reporters about the arrest on tuesday. the prime minister said a man was arrested in the province near the cambodian border and did not give information about the charges. >>. >> translator: he was at the border on our territory.

he was probably trying to escape. we are investigating. >> thai police have been investigating the bombing on august 17th that killed 20 people and injured more than 120 others. another blast occurred the following day near the river. the authorities suspected the same group was responsible for both incidents. on saturday police arrested a foreign man on charges of possessing explosives and have been investigating whether there is a connection with the bombings. they issued two more arrest warrants on monday for a thai woman and a foreign man. police were scheduled to hold a news conference at 5:00 p.m. local time in bangkok. september 1st is disaster prevention day here in japan. it commemorates the worst natural disaster the country has experienced and people are taking part in emergency drills. nhk world has more.

were. >> reporter: about 7,500 people took part in emergency training at five venues in tokyo. they practiced handling patients at a makeshift clinic. the government's panel of experts say there is a 70% chance that an earthquake with a magnitude around 7 will hit the kondo area within the next 30 years in the worst case scenario 23,000 people are expected to perish due to fire and collapsed buildings. private firms are also taking steps to prepare for the possibility of a natural disaster. practice makes perfect. these company workers are learning how to respond when any disaster strikes.

about 500 employees working for re estate firm that manages took part in the first response drill. they practiced transporting the injured. >> translator: i thought that i should always have a sense of crisis against the disaster. >> translator: i felt like drills like this will help us act properly in a disaster. >> reporter: the company stores enough food to feed 5,000 people for three days. it also keeps things like diapers and sanitary products. >> translator: we prepare supplies for people who are unable to go home. our tenants in offices and residents as well as neighborhood residents. we aim to provide safety and security. >> reporter: scores of people were unable to go home when the greats east japan earthquake of 2011 stopped traffic and transportation systems.

the figure is expected to reach nearly 5 million if a tremor should directly hit the capital. however, there are currently not enough facilities to house these people. a prolonged disruption to transportation systems is expected. sere traffic jams could last several weeks. the transportation ministry has developed a new information system. aerial imagery is shown in real-time on a large map. this will enable authorities to share information about the roads. >> translator: we believe that it will help us understand the extent of damage at an early stage and make correct decisions on emergency responses. >> reporter: the tokyo olympics and paralympics are scheduled in five years.

the japanese government aims to establish a system that will enable all event organizations to cooperate on possible disasters in the capital. yuji osawa, nhk, tokyo. >> thanks very much for that report. asian stock markets are still dropping. gene otani here to tell us what's happening and gives us a roundup of today's business headlines. >> james, thanks. weak data from china weighed heavily on investors in the region. the purchases managers index in the manufacturing sector in august dropped to 37.3, its lowest level since 2009 and tokyo's nikkei avege tumbled more than 700 points. for details to our business reporter at the tokyo stock exchange. >> the pmi data from china shows manufacturing activities contracted for the sixth consecutive month in china that triggered worries the slowdown

in the second largest economy may be taking a toll on japanese companies. let's look at how the benchmark performed. plunged 3.8%, closing at 18,165. the topix slid by 3.8%. all end dri groups in the broader index finished in the red. big caps dragging down the benchmarks. toyota lost 2.7%. the other major carmakers suffered on the back of a slightly stronger yen. mitt sue bishty fell 2.89%. today's selling found a wide range of industries sectors such as pharmaceuticals in e food industry were sold off. drugmakers lost more than 6%. instant noodle maker fell about 5%. china's slowdown doesn't have a direct effect on these sectors so if one fund manager told me uncertainty is, indeed, a key word for the market now. one of the biggest uncertainties

is whether the u.s. federal reserve will decide to raise its key interest rate or not. this sense of uncertainty into the month of september is limiting bargain hunting and stock prices are struggling to recover and it seems that that's set to last for a while until all of the uncertainties are taken off the table. reporting from the tokyo stock exchange. >> all right. thanks. those weak pmi figures have dragged many markets in the a a asia-pacific region lower. the sjeng hi composite closed at 3166, the index down nearly 5% at one stage but the losses were limited by the afternoon. the benchmark ended in the negative even after beijing's support measures. hong kong retreated from friday's gains. the hang sang finished 2.2% lower. investors sold shares on growing worries over the economy. indonesia snapped the five-day

winning streak ending 2.15%. sydney's index lost more than 2%. the kospi fell 1.4%. chinese financial authorities have made a new move to support the country's volatile stock market. they are telling listed companies to take steps to raise the value of their shares. the finance ministries the security regulatory commission and two other financial watch dogs are calling on companies to pay shareholders higher dividends in a joint statement. the authorities will give firms financial help to buy back shares if prices fall below a certain level and the government plans to simplify procedures for corporate mergers and realignments. the shanghai cposite index at one point tumbled by me than 40% from its peak. a widespread view the government is reluctant to support the market is believed to be one of the reasons for the sharp drop. experts say the statement is intended to show that the government is committed to supporting the market.

japan's giant toshiba has delayed the release of its accounting figures. executives have planned to announce the firm's financial report for the year ending in march on monday. but they decided ahe last minute to put it off for another week until september 7th. >> translator: if the company fails to meet the new deadline, the responsibility would weigh heavily on me. i might have to consider resigning my posts. >> toshiba official cited about ten incidents of possible accounting irregularities at their subsidiaries both inside and outside japan. they said these requires special internal auditing and they have found errors in the calculation of fixed asset losses. the officials say they will need to revise downward their pretax profits for the last seven business years by around 1.7

billion but said on monday that actual figures will not be too far off the numbers previously row leased. as part of reform efforts, they aim to compile a plan to restructure struggling divisions by year end. here's the look at some of the other business stories we're following. japanese corporate managers are plowing their profits back into plants, machinery and other assets. finance ministry officials say capital investment from april to june rose over 5% from a year earlier. they say a strong performance by japanese auto firms in the north american market lifted corporate sales by more than 1%. japanese automakers are struggling to overcome a drawn out slump in domestic sales. in august they recorded a decline of almost 2% for new vehicles. it's the eighth month in a row that numbers have been down from the same period in 2014.

a tax increase continued to hurt sales of many vehicles but other passenger cars faired better for the first time in two months. executives at some of japan's top beverage makers are passing on their rising business costs to consumers. officials at the breweries have lifted recommended retail prices for over 200 whiskeys and wines by up to around 40%. in those, japan say they will raise the price of tea, powdered coffee and other products by about 10%. cur raters at the national science museum have honored an unusual pet. they've added the first artificially intelligent robot dog to a list of inventions that changed the way people live. museum staff recognized sony's iconic toy dog aibo and 24 other innovations and included them on a register of essential historic materials for science and technology.

officials introduced aibo in 1999 and discontinued it in 2006. they designed the dog so that its personality and actions would reflect the behavior of its owner. many people came to think of their aibo as a real canine companion. museum staff also added to the list a series of micro computers designed for home use. the 8 bit machines produced by sharp, nec and hitachi attracted many enthusiastic supporters in the 1980s. the list features 209 technologies and products. people at some of japan's biggest publishing houses have hashed out a plan to offset falling domestic sales. they've teamed up to take on the market for manga across southeast asia. executives from four publishers and a book store worked out a deal that gives each party a 20% stake in the venture. they'll start by targeting thailand. that's a country with the biggest regional market for

manga. they say later this year they'll open a shop in bangkok that sells comic books and anime goods. the executives will consider expanding the business to other countries if the shop is successful. they hope to raise the profile of japanese works and discourage people from pirating them. that's it for business news. i'll leave you with the markets.

whiskey production was under way in japan as far back as the mid 1920s set up by a man who studied the craft in scotland. since then many distillers have tried to manufacture the technique mostly for domestic consumption. amber colored japanese single malts are in high demand overseas especially in asia. and price tags are skyrocketing. nhk world reveals what is behind the craze. >> reporter: in hong kong more and more buyers are opening in specializing in serving japanese whiskey. this stocks more than 100 brands with the price of a single glass from several dollars to several hundred. >> it's more easy to drink and that flavor is more sweet, elegant, compared to scottish.

>> reporter: the most elegant at the bar in terms of its price tag is this one. the 52-year-old, one bottle goes for more than 70 thousand u.s. dollars. the distillery that produced this brand shut down a few years ago. there are only 41 bottles left in the world. japanese whiskeys have won prestigious prizes in britain and other countries in recent years. in hong kong, the value of whiskey imports from japan last year doubled compared to the year before. >> many newspaper and also the magazine report about japanese whiskey, winning the international awards. so they may want to try this whiskey. >> reporter: demand is heating

up and this is a result of prices in vintage names soaring. whiskey is supposed to be something that one sips in flavor. but here in hong kong, it's seen as an attractive investment opportunity. hundreds of rare whiskeys are up for auction. 70% of them japanese. more and more investors from mainland china and southeast asia are vying to make winning bids. they expect prices of relatively unknown brands to surge. the highlight of the event was the bidding on the bottle of kariizawa 52-year-old. >> 300 -- >> reporter: two bidders went head to head in a telephone duel. 650.

700. thank you very much. it's going to be a world record. >> reporter: the winner was from southeast asia and the final bid for one bottle was 750,000 hong kong dollars or 97,000 u.s. dollars. some participants say prices are getting crazy. >> the brand like the 1960, prices out of my expectation. >> reporter: but the bidding didn't end there. a 54 bottle set of the series of hanyu brand vintages fetched 400,000 u.s. dollars. >> we're seeing momo and more mainland buyers since february of this year. they know that this value of this whiskey will not be going down like the stock market. >> reporter: in the old days, people used to cherish this

beverage as the water of life. nowadays, people in asia are seeking out japan made whiskey not only for its taste, but also for its new status. as the water of money. nhk world, hong kong. >> spirits are high in more ways than one. cheers for that report. some worrisome news weather related news. several ships capsized in japan. jonathan oh joins us with information on what the weather conditions were like leading up to those accidents. >> hello. yes, it looks like the weather was quite severe as we went through the morning hours. we're talking about heavy rainfall and strong wind gusts. we had one report of gusts up to 70 kilometers per hour in the area and then rainfall rates as high as 93 millimeters per hour. that's just a ton of rainfall

falling in a short period of time. and, in fact, if we look at the radar perspective here, we're watching after this cluster that moved through this morning and, in fact, there was a slight indication of maybe a rotation that might have made it into a mess sew cyclonic type setup and because of that at least the latest information we know at this point, four people have died because of the ships overturning. two are still missing. and so this is something that officials will continue to monitor and try to seek out those that are missing at this point. the reason why we had this type of setup is because low pressure was moving toward the north and east. it's dragging in all of this very warm air toward the ground level, but then higher up in the atmosphere we had cold air swiping in and whene have that type of setup, when we have cold air higher up and warmer air toward the ground that causes instability and that's when we have all the moisture going up higher up, the clouds start to build and we have these strong

thunderstorms and strong winds pumping in. when you havehe proximity of the low nearby that's when we see these type of strong thunderstorms. now as you progress toward the next day, we're expecting the low to move to the north and east and along the pacific side of japan, we're looking at the possibility of some heavy downpours into the next couple days. we'll be monitoring this weather setup as we go forward in time. japans is not the only area seeing heavier rainfall. towards the southern portions of china we had a low mixed in with this stationary frontal boundary and that's leading to even more rain and thunderstorms for hong kong, taipei and shanghai. you need to have your umbrellas with you and be cautious we may be dealing with some heavy downpours as we go through the day. now as we go further toward the pacific, we're keeping an eye on three named storms. one of them kind of close to hawaii but not nearly close enough to bring heavy downpours. it's going to be further north.

ignacio is a category 2 hurricane. it is moving to the north and west however it still packs enough of a punch when it comes to the winds that the wave heights may be quite high for the northern shores. please make sure you're keeping that in mind as you move forward in time. the rain will stay mainly toward the north as we go through the next few days. now as we look at the forecast for north america, the remnants of eric ka took its toll in south carolina and charleston. we saw rainfall at 163 millimeters in the northern portions of charlton, that broke the old record of 66 millimeters of rainfall back in 2006. so this was quite an intense rain system and so you can see the flooding that took place and people having to travel around in boats. now this is moving toward the north and east. high pressure should be moving in. we should see some irovement there. i do want to point out we are also seeing flooding on the northwestern side in the pacific northwest as a system moves there. temperatures will be in the teens as we go through tuesday. the heat is on in new york and d.c., by the way.

highs will be in the low to mid 30s as we go through the day. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extended outlook. here on "newsline" our story from bangkok once again. thailand's interim prime minister prayut chan-o-cha says another foreign man has been arrested in connection of the bombing of the shrine in bangkok last month. he told reporters about the arrest on tuesday. the prime minister said a man was arrested in sako providence

near the cambodian border and did not give information about the charges. >> translator: he was at the border on our territory. he was probably trying to escape. we are investigating. >> thai police have been investigating the bombing on august 17th that killed 20 people and injured more than 120 others. another blast occurred the following day near the river. the authorities suspected the same group was responsible for both incidents. on saturday, police arrested a foreign man on charges of possessing explosives and have been investigating whether there is a connection with the bombings. they issued two more arrest warrants on monday for a thai woman and foreign man. police were scheduled to hold a news conference at 5:00 p.m. local time in bangkok. we will keep you updated on this story. at the top of the hour is newsroom tokyo. more to come here on nhk world so stay with us. w

genie: around the world, i'm genie godula. views are today's main story spirit hungary restarts real traffic in budapest but refuses protestingy migrants outside back in. this after thousands boarded trains for austria and germany monday despite not having visas. a second foreign man is arrested , linked to last month's deadly bombing at a shrine in bangkok. the motive for the blast that killed 20 is still unknown. new satellite pictures of syria confirm that the asian temple of bel in palmyra has been destroyed by the islamic state group.