here in japan, it's 7:00 on a wednesday. i'm james tengan in tokyo. welcome to "newsline". a court in central japan has ordered the suspension of two nuclear reactors. this is the first time a court has issued an injunction for reactors that are online. residents had filed for the court injunction in january of last year. they said reactors three and four are not safe and pose the

risk of a nuclear accident. the on ratter of the plant has not given a sufficient explanation as to how to deal with accidents. they noted that safety measures are based on an estimation of the maximum possible tremor from only the past 14 earthquakes. they said that method is not irrefutably scientific. the two reactors were restarted this year after clearing new stricter regulations the government introduced after the fukushima accident. the court injunction takes effect immediately. >> translator: i'm thrilled. i'm absolutely overwhelmed. we managed to convey to the court just how passionately we feel about this issue. >> officials with the plant operator kansai say it's regrettable the court failed to understand their arguments. they described the yinjunction s

totally unacceptable and will start the process to appeal. they'll start the process to shut down the number three reactor on thursday morning and it will be fully offline in ten hours. the number four reactor is already off line. japan's top spokesperson says tokyo is keeping an eye on the developments. >> translator: independent surveyors spent a lot of time inspenting the reactor the. the government respects the decision and will keep working to get reactors back online. on march 11, 2011, the massive earthquake and tsunami that hit northeastern japan

and triggered one of the worst disasters in history. this week, journey from the disaster looks at the region and its people five years on. the fukushima incident forced many people from their homes. for years they eagerly awaited the time to return home. but quite a few have decided to abandon that dream and build new lives elsewhere. nhk has the story. >> reporter: the town is about 6 kilometers from fukushima daiichi. work to decontaminate the field continues. some roads remain closed. there are many areas where decontamination work has not yet started. 62-year-old mitsuo lived here.

he visited his home for the first time in four months. an evacuation order is still in effect for the entire town. former residents are only allowed to visit during the day. >> translator: i can't help looking around to look for my old friends and neighbors, but there's really no one here. >> reporter: he used to run a grocery store. for the first couple years after the accident, he expected he'd go home soon. government officials say the evacuation order for the neighborhood will be lifted next year. >> translator: on the one hand, i want to come back. but on the other hand i know i can't. everybody feels torn. >> reporter: he now lives in tokyo, where he has no friends. he and hess wife share a two-room apartment room which the government provides. officials have notified okura and the other evacuees that they

will lose their housing assistance by the end of march 2017. >> translator: i have to think about renting an apartment room on my own. i must start preparing to move out as soon as i can. >> reporter: oku researra is le two choices. go home or find new lodging somewhere else. can he go back? he asked other fukushima evacuees he met in tokyo for advice. many have cited the lack of medical and other services and the difficulties that still lie ahead as a reason not to go back.

after hearing fellow evacuees share their honest feelings, okura was convinced he can no longer go back. he paid one last visit to his former home, to say good-bye to his house and store. both filled with memories. he got rid of the objects he had left behind, including furniture and equipment from the grocery store. he wanted to convince himself that he was doing the right thing. but still there were items he could not part with. precious photo albums that record a vanished, happier life. >> translator: it really is

disappointing, but i don't have much choice. i can't live here all b myself. i'm going to dispose of things in the house. and think about how to restart from scratch. >> reporter: people who were forced to leave fukushima have to build new lives in far-flung locations. now many of them are finding it difficult to uproot themselves once again and return to the places they once called home. nhk world, number yay fukushima. scandal hit electronics firm toshiba is looking to sell its medical unit. gene otani has the latest on that and all the other business headlines.

>> executives at toshiba say they'll give exclusive negotiating rights to canon to buy their medical subsidiary, it is part of its efforts to rebuild its finances following a scandal over accounting irregularities. sale of the subsidiary could raise around $2.6 billion. toshiba's medical unit remains profitable and has an edge in diagnostic imaging systems. canon is a precision equipment maker and was among the bidders. toshiba hopes to reach a final agreement on the sale by march 18th. it has plans to secure an extra loan from its main banks of up to $1.7 billion. checking the markets, tokyo prices fell for the second session in a row.

our business reporter giang nguyen has the latest. >> stocks retreated as oil prices went negative. and china concerns. and investors flocked to safe havens like the yen. the nikkei dropped to 16,642. and we're halfway through the week, but it doesn't look like the nikkei can eke out a fourth day of gains. inpecks fell 2.6%. jx holdings lost 1.5%. and a higher yen weighed on commodity trading, including rubber. as for currencies, the dollar yen traded at a near one-week low during tokyo trading hours. it was around the mid-112 yen level. all eyes are now on the european

central bank's policy meeting on thursday. many traders are speculating the ecb will announce more stimulus. i'm giang nguyen reporting from the tokyo stock exchange. >> moving on to other markets, in china, the shanghai finished at 2862. it snapped a sectiix-day winnin streak. australia's banking and health care sectors saw gains. other markets in the region had mixed results. the hang seng declined by a fraction, singaporean shares advancing 1.14%, the first rise in three days. suzukier plans to export cars made by its subsidiary in

india to japan. the measure will help cut costs in the face of fierce competition. the japanese firm began operating in india more than 30 years ago and has a more than 40% share of the country's auto market. the japan-bound cars will be fitted with an anti-collision system and other safety gettures. the sales target is 6,000 units a year. >> translator: the quality of our cars produced in india i now at the same level as those we make in japan. we want to sell our indian-made cars around the world. >> other japanese makers are following similar paths in a quest for cost efficiency. nissan and mitsubishi already import foreign-made vehicles into japan. here's a look at some of the other stories we're following. a major japanese supermarket

chain is heading for its first loss since 1972. officials say sales of clothing suffered from fierce competition from fashion retailers and unusually warm weather from last autumn. labor union chiefs are sitting down with corporate managers across japan to negotiate wages. executives at a major food maker are likely to offer an unusual park, a cut in working hours. the union says it's expected to agree to a proposal to shorten regular working hours by 20 minutes a day while maintaining the same basic pay. foreign workers have become a welcome addition to japan's shrinking workforce. they're helping some firms service the hospitality and retail sectors. nhk reports.

>> reporter: these japanese-style inn is in a hot spring resort near tokyo. a taiwanese employee looks after a family that visited from his homeland last month. he was a live-in worker who started just three months ago. he proved popular with guests. >> our native language service is also very convenient for us. yeah. >> reporter: jan was a very valuable and essential employee. he helps with check in by showing guests around and servicing rooms. >> translator: i studied japanese at school. so i want to look for part-team translation work or office work. >> reporter: last month he quit work at the inn after finding another job. his employers found another

taiwanese worker to replace him temporarily. so they have to look again soon. >> translator: it's hard to find taiwanese employees, as demand for foreign workers is high. i'm worried about it. >> reporter: some retailers are hiring foreigners as regular employees so they can stay on long term. this cosmetics firm has a branch in tokyo's upscale ginza district. there are four foreign salesclerks, and two of them are regular employees. the company initially hired foreigners as interpreters on temporary contracts. but many left after a short time. some of these international employees were put on the regular payroll. the move means the workers receive the same training and

promotion opportunities as local hires. >> translator: i can learn a lot from training sessions. i'm pleased. i hope i can serve our customers better. >> reporter: armed with better product knowledge, the foreign salesclerks are boosting business. >> translator: i'd like this. >> reporter: this chinese customer is looking for a skin lotion that was recommended by a friend. some products are so popular through word of mouth that sales soar until the items are out of stock. at the store, well-trained sales representatives recommend add-on purchases. they suggest other items that promise to produce better results. >> translator: i'll take these. >> reporter: the customer buys the lotion she was looking for

along with a foundation. her purchase shows how regular foreign employees are selling a wider variety of items. >> translator: the sales staff was informative. i enjoyed my shopping. >> translator: foreign staff are not just selling products. they are serving customers with a special kind of effort. they're an essential part of our business. >> reporter: foreign workers are proving to be indispensable assets to companies struggling to fill positions. they're helping japanese businesses meet targets and bring in greater diversity to the workplace. nhk world. >> and that's it for business news. i'm going to leave you with the markets.

this is one of the most popular shopping districts in seoul, especially for foreign tourists, but the district is facing strchallenges. >> reporter: it's easy to spot street vendors. what used to be accessories and

clothing vendors have evolved into food carts, and it's mainly for tourists from china. there are now about 200 vendors operating in this area. >> translator: i heard i can enjoy delicious food here. >> translator: here i eat a little. and later, he'll eat again. it's very chaep. >> reporter: many chinese tourists prefer having a quick snack at these carts instead of eating at restaurants. the number of chinese tourists has rapidly surged in the last three years. they now represent the largest group of foreign tourists in south korea. nearly 6 million visited last year alone. this vendor has been selling food for five years. at first she started deep frying vegetables. she aimed to please chinese

palates. >> translator: we are selling stirfry, noodles mixed with beef here. chinese tourists are our manin business. >> reporter: her business is thriving, but she's not so optimistic about the future. she thinks the chinese tourists have peaked. street vendors aren't the only ones who are worried. restaurant owners are experiencing even more difficulties with their business. that's because the number of japanese tourists, their best customers, has been decreasing drastically. in part because of chilly financial relations. korean restaurants have been serving traditional korean

dishes for nearly 30 years. this owner says the restaurant was full of japanese tourists a decade ago. but now they don't come to south korea as much as before. the number of japanese visiting south korea began to nosedive in 2013. so the restaurant's sales plunged by 30%. she blames part of the loss of business on the street vendors. >> translator: the fact that 200 vendors are making more profit than us without paying any tax is unacceptable. that makes our business more difficult. >> reporter: the association is made up of 3300 shops in the district. the association plans to hold a range of cultural events at a theater in the area.

it also intends to build an area cable way that goes to the top of the mountain. >> translator: we're trying to attract south korean citizens as well as foreign tourists to among dong. >> reporter: it will take time before their vision can see the light of day. nhk world, seoul. millions of people in various parts of the asia pacific region were treated to a solar eclipse on wednesday. the effect was most spectacular in parts of indonesia which experienced a near total eclipse, blocking the sun almost completely for two minutes. nhk reports. >> reporter: a lot of people come to this place to watch the eclipse. they come here even early in the morning, just to watch the total

eclipse. residents on this island, about 200 kilometer north of yejakart came to see the first total eclipse in indonesia in 21 years. >> it was awe inspiring, something you can look back and say wow, i was there when that happened. >> reporter: although parts of southeast asia experienced a partial eclipse, from singapore, the moon was obscured about 90% of the sun. >> i think people are tourists and students. it's not a textbook science, but this you is where you can look at science face to face and have experience of what nature is all about. >> reporter: japan was mostly cloudy on wednesday morning. but in sapporo, on the northern island of hokkaido, about 5% of the sun was obscured.

not all cultures view the occurrence of an eclipse in the same way. hindu mythology explains it as the sun being consumed by leader. and some muslim leaders call it a home for prayer. but most of the and you lookers simply looked at the sky with wonder and with a cheer. nhk world, indonesia. thanks very much. unfortunately, for us in tokyo, it was mostly cloudy and rainy today. sayaka mori joins us with this hour's update. >> yesterday's weather is like an illusion. it's very wet and quite chilly across theokyo are thmercury t 21 deges yesterday, but it's only 7 degrees today. more like mid january in fact, and we are looking at heavy rainfall across western japan as well. in just 24 hours, about 60% of the rain for march has fallen

d heavy in is poding uthern ptions ofhina. over 360 millimeters of rain has fallen in a span of 24 hours. and more rain is expected across china and japan and windy conditions are expected across the pacific side of japan. now along the ridge of high pressure area, wins are quite strong. so we are looking at windy conditions across taiwan, china and the okinawa region, and rain will likely continue across the southern areas of china as well. temperatures remain quite chilly into thursday as well as friday in several places, like tokyo, seoul, and shanghai. but into the weekend, things will be warming up. so 11 degrees expected in tokyo on our sunday. now across the americas, on tuesday, a tornado was reported near dallas. several people were wounded as well as several houses were damaged. in fact, hail the size of a

grapefruit was reported in the state. and more severe weather is expected across eastern texas well as louisiana on your wednesday. watch out for more tornados, thunderstorms and large hail as well, and heavy rain is expected for the lower mississippi river basin into the next three days or so. probably 280 millimeters of rain could fall. that's much more than the monthly rainfall for march. and rainfall is expected in ontario and quebec. so watch out for slick road conditions. now temperatures are more like may or june across the eastern areas of the united states. 27 degrees expected in the u.s. capital, and it looks like cherry blossoms will likely in full bloom during march 20 across d.c. and in new york city up to 23 degrees expected for your wednesday. enjoy the taste of spring. and across the south hemisphere,

heavy rain is still falling across parts of peru. and a dog was rescued. take a look at this video out of lima. a poor animal was stranded on the rocks due to the rushing waters of the river. residences tried to reach the dog but were swept under water due to strong currents. after multiple attempts to rescue the water, one residence was successful using a tire, to float over and tie a rope around the dog with residents pulling it into safety. thankfully, the dog was rescued d no oneas injur. spottyhowers a still expected across peru, but at least lima will see dry conditions as we go through the next several days and the weekend as well. and temperatures will be around 30 degrees. next up is your three-day forecast.

"newsroom tokyo" comes to you live at the top of the hour. from all ofçççbq

>> france 24 live around the world. these are the headlines. bernie sanders breathes new life into his campaign, eating hillary clinton in the she can. she won in mississippi. for the republicans, donald trump is in first place in three of tuesday's races. croatia seals off the border, blng