it's the top of the hour. welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm james tengan in tokyo. thousands of people have come together in nagasaki to commemorate the atomic bombing of the city. over the past seven decades the city has come to symbol liez loss, resilience, and hope. the ceremony was held at

nagasaki peace park close to where the bomb hit. among those in attendance were atomic bomb survivors known as hibaksusha. each year names of victims get put into a stone vault. this year more than 3,000 were added. they include survivors who died in the past year and newly confirmed victims. there are now more than 172,000 names listed. [ bell ringing ] peace park fell silent at 11:02 a.m. that's the exact time the bomb was dropped. ir har ra was 9 years old at the

time. he recalled the aftermath and he vowed to carry on with his campaign for peace. >> translator: we pledge to work with nagasaki's youth to continue on. we pledge we will never give up and continue to make progress in our historic duty to pass on to our children a peaceful world without nuclear weapons and without war. >> nagasaki's mayor mentioned president obama's visit to hiroshima in may and urged others to take suit. >> translator: i apile to the leaders of states that possess nuclear weapons and to the people of the world. please come to visit nagasaki and hiroshima. find out yourselves what happened to human beings beneath the mushroom cloud. knowing the facts becomes the starting point for thinking

about a future free of nuclear weapons. >> he also called on leaders of nuclear weapon states to join discussions on a legal framework to advance nuclear disarmament negotiations. prime minister shinzo abe says japan will continue to reinforce the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. >> translator: i will seek the cooperation of all countries whether they have nuclear weapons or not. and will ask the leaders of the world as well as young people to comprehend the tragic consequences of using them. i will do all i can for a goal of a world without nuclear weapons. >> people in nagasaki are spending the day reflecting and praying.

in the early morning survivors and family members of the victims offered prayers for the deceased. they also shared their hopes for the future. >> translator: i can never sleep well in august. i think my life was spared so that i could pray for the victims. >> translator: we must keep calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons. >> translator: i would like president obama to visit nagasaki too. hiroshima was not the only place that was struck by an atomic bomb. nagasaki was also hit. >> translator: i came here early in the morning with my kids to pray for the victims. i want my children to remember what happened on this day. nhk world's nagahama is in

nagasaki. >> reporter: well, i'm standing in front of the cathedral near the atomic blast. and this cathedral is a special place for catholics. because in the 16th century, missionaries from overseas came to nagasaki to spread the teachings. but later on christianity was banned and for 250 years christians in nagasaki were persecuted. but even during that time, this church has stood as a symbol of japanese faith in christianity. let me talk about the duration of the center of this cathedral. it's this direction 500 meters from here and the bomb exploded up in the air. then the blast and heat rays came over to this area and this cathedral was totally destroyed and caught fire right after the bombing. and there are some statues i want to show you right here. those statues remain as they

were 71 years ago. so they were partly destroyed and some parts of the bodies are missing. and around this cathedral, there are many, many things that show scars of the atomic bombing. take a look. this is the statue of virgin mary that was enshrined in the original cathedral's alter. a priest found the head in debris after the war. glass eyes have been melted out. today it's referred to as the bomb virgin mary and is displayed in the church as a symbol of peace. when the church was hit by the explosion, one of the bell towers was blown 35 meters away. it still sits on the very spot where it fell on that day. people viting the cathedral spent some time looking at the relic. >> translator: i feel so sad because a place that is supposed

to be peaceful was destroyed by something that's totally opposite from peace. >> the fact of being in the hypercenter of the bomb, everything changed for a lot of people. so this is very, very sensitive moment. very important. >> reporter: well, we have moved inside the cathedral and we're climbing up the stairs to get a sense of what's going on here in the hall. as we were preparing for this live coverage, we saw many foreign followers as well. people from asian countries as well as from europe and also from the united states. right now we hear songs of the followers here. in the bombing of the church's

parishioners, 8500 were killed. all that were left standing were parts of its walls. this cathedral we seeoday w rebuilt in 1959. and special masses are held in churches across nagasaki today. parishioners are praying for nagasaki to be the last place where atomic weapons are used. and others are praying for an end to global conflict. ♪ nhk world, nagasaki. >> thanks for that report. as people look back to that

day, photos taken after the attack provide a clear reminder of the destruction. one of those images helped two women get closure this year after seven decades. yoshihito kametani reports. but first a warning for our viewers. some may find the photo disturbing. >> reporter: this photo was taken the day after the bombing near ground zero. it symbolizes the horror of nuclear weapons. but over 70 years the identity of the boy in the photo was unknown. in 1995 the then-mayor of nagasaki showed the picture at the international court of justice. >> translator: the leaders of the nuclear powers should take a look at the photograph. they should face the reality that nuclear weapons bring.

>> reporter: in june, two women who live in nagasaki said they recognize the boy as their brother. >> translator: i thought i was finally able to meet my brother. i was really surprised. >> reporter: the photo was taken by army cameraman yosuke yamahata. he was ordered to record the damage after the nagasaki bombing. yamahata arrived on august 10th the day after the bombing and captured images of ground zero. a train was flattened and the bodies of the passengers were blown away. the girl in this picture lost her family and still staring in a daze. >> translator: it was like hell. there were very few survivors. people's eyes were exposed to radiation. their bodies burned. people were holding onto walking

sticks wandering around the city waiting for rescue. >> reporter: amid this scene of devastation, yamahata saw the boy's body. more than 70 years later, the sisters were still searching for their brother. tanisaki lived at the boarding house around ground zero. he had taken exam at school on the day of the bombing. those were his last known whereabouts. >> translator: we went to exhibitions all the time. desperately hoping to find my brother somewhere. we looked through every photo very carefully. >> reporter: they had known about the photo before, but they'd never seen it in a large size. when they saw a blownup version, they noticed that the boy resembled their brother. a forensic expert analyzed the contours of the boy's face and

the shape of his eyes and concluded the boy is highly likely tanisaki. his sisters say they are talking to the photo every day. >> translator: we are relieved. we finally have some closure. my brother is no longer here. he died. we have been able to put it to an end. >> reporter: still, the two sisters don't know what happened to their brother's body. nagasaki officials say the city still holds the remains of nearly 9,000 people despite efforts in the past ten years none have been identified. yoshihito kametani, nhk world, nagasaki. >> thanks. people in the u.s. also held memorial services to commemorate the anniversary. in washington, d.c., dozens of people gathered at a church.

they listened to a speech a japanese man who survived the bombing of hiroshima three days before nagasaki was targeted. the man explained the hardships he experienced in the aftermath. then they headed to the white house to hold a memorial service there. >> let's have a moment of silence. >> translator: i'm overwhelmed to see people in washington gathered together to remember nagasaki. >> mimaki says he wants to see president obama work toward abolishing nuclear arms.

the japanese government is taking a hard line stance against recent intrusions of chinese ships into its territorial waters. japanese foreign minister fum fumfumio kishida -- summoned to his office on tuesday. he said despite japan's repeated protests, china's actions are further escalating tensions in the region. and this is unacceptable. he urged chinese ships to withdraw from the area around the senkaku islands to calm the situation. chung reiterated his government's stance. >> translator: the islands are chinese territory. it is natural for our ships to operate in the region. >> japan controls the senkaku islands. japan's government maintains they are an inherent part of the country's territory. china and taiwan also claim

them. last friday was the first time a chinese patrol ship and fishing boats had intruded into japanese territorial waters together. and on monday as many as 15 chinese ships were confirmed as being in or close to japanese waters. that's the largest number since japan's government purchased some of the islands in 2012. and even on tuesday, two chinese ships were spotted in japan's territorial waters. there have been intrusions for three days in a row. prime minister shinzo abe has ordered relevant ministries to respond in a calm but resolute manner. japan has made protest for five days in a row with tuesday's being the first at ministerial level. leaders in beijing are try og variety of tools to achieve sustainable growth. they got a reminder how great that challenge is. yuko fukushima joins us with

more from the business desk with more on that. >> thanks, james. the chinese -- thanks, james. well, china analysts have released inflation figures for july. it suggests spending remains weak. the consumer price index increased by just 1.8%. here we go. 1.8% from the year earlier. that's down slightly from june's growth of 1.9% and well below the government's target of around 3% for the year. the index has been contracting for three months. officials at china's national bureau of statistics compiled the numbers. they say prices for mobile phones and appliances fell and growth in clothing price increased. producer prices in july fell 1.7% year on year. that's a big improvement from june when the index was down by

2.6%. producer prices have been improving for seven months thanks to a government-led building spree. executives at mcdonald's japan put an end to a losing streak. they're celebrating an earnings report that shows profits are finally back in the black. officials say for the january to june period, the firm posted a net profit of about $1.5 million. this time last year they were reporting for the same half. sales were up 23% in yen terms to $1 billion. they credit an overhaul of their menus for drawing customers back. >> as we execute the business revitalization plan, we are seeing steady improvement in customers returning to mcdonald's. we know we have more work to do. but we believe we're on the right path. >> the president also said a

collaboration with the hit smartphone game pokemon go is likely giving the firm a boost. one of japan's leading retailers aeon aims to open ten stores from 2021. the president said aeon will operate 14 supermarkets that its local partner already owns in myanmar. he said the joint venture would start setting up new stores by the end of the year. aeon is the first major japanese retailer to set up in the southeast asian nation. myanmar is the firm's top priority as a market because of the growth of the middle income segment of its population. checking the markets now, tokyo stocks closed higher for a second day. reporter phoebe amoroso has more from the tokyo stock exchange.

>> investors are lacking ahead of holidays in japan. but some analysts say the market is maintaining momentum after jobs data in the u.s. last friday. the nikkei closed at 16,764. the broader topix rose 0.92%. the top performer was brother industries. it gained 19.26% after revised upwards forecasts for the year ending march 2017 citing strong sales. shares of japan steel works went up 10.7% for the april to june quarter from a year earlier. on the flip side, however, mitsubishi materials dropped 4.93%. it operated down the revision for the year due to the stronger yen. japan is heading into the holiday period, so it may be a

quiet week. however, that lackluster data -- lackluster inflation data from china may give investors cause for concern. they'll be looking out for the industrial output data due on friday. phoebe amoroso from the tokyo stock exchange. moving on to other markets in asia pacific region, the shanghai composite added 0.71% ending at 3,025. some analysts they hoped for stimulus measured by the government. now to hong kong. investors there with big profits from three days of gains. the hang seng ended at 22,465. and in seoul, the kospi climbed 6% there. and sydney up 0.3%. financials and energy sectors lifted the index. and singapore was closed for a national holiday.

you can catch our report again online together with a full script. look for nhk world and business wrap. and that's all for biz. i'll leave you with the markets. the united states is raising concerns on the outcome of a thai referendum. on sunday a clear majority of voters backed a draft

constitution written by the interim military-led government. a state department official says she's worried the drafting process wasn't inclusive and that open debate wasn't permitted in the run-up to the vote. >> we urge thai authorities to return thailand to elected civilian-led government as soon as possible. >> trudeau also said the interim government should lift restrictions on freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly. approval of the constitution will pave the way for a general election as early as next august to restore a civilian-led government. but the draft allows the military to retain its political authority. it requires all senators to be appointed by a military-backed council during the first five years of a transition period. the military-led government had been putting pressure on its opponents. it took power in a 2014 coup

after years of political turmoil. nhk "newsline" comes to you from tokyo where temperatures were in the upper 30s celsius or upper 90s fahrenheit earlier in the day. for the details here's sayaka mori. sayaka? >> yes, james. many places in japan including tokyo and nagasaki experienced the hottest day of the year so far. we had extremely high temperatures in many places. the highest temperature was reported in the kanta region. and tokyo had about 38 degrees. that's about 5 degrees higher than normal. the highest temperature was recorded in minobu.

it's going to be cooling down a little bit into wednesday. still very hot. 32 degrees expected on thursday. now, nagasaki, you'll see extremely high temperatures as we go into the rest of the work week. stay hydrated. meanwhile across the eastern portions of japan, we're looking at strong winds and high waves to continue into tomorrow. there's a severe tropical storm affecting the area. we don't think it will make landfall in northern japan, but it is expected to cause strong winds. gusts up to 180 kilometers per hour and high waves up to 5 meters. stay away from coastal regions. as tropical depression is making landfall in south of china, causing rainfall. and an additional 110 millimeters of rain could fall and there's another tropical system to the south of japan. this system may become a typhoon and could move up towards the north into the weekend. now, temperatures for asia are

as follows. seoul at 35 degrees. it is going to be quite hot as we go into the weekend. 33 degrees in beijing. and cooler up towards ulaanbaatar. let's go to mexico. there's a tropical storm affecting the baja peninsula. it's going to move up towards the north into the weekend. tropical storm force winds are expected to happen in southern portions throughout the morning hours. and the strong winds will likely move up towards the north as the day progresses. another system made landfall in the southeast of the country during the weekend. it caused tremendous amounts of heavy rainfall. we have some footage coming out of mexico. tropical system earl caused flooding if areas sunday. mudslides killed 45 people. the storm caused houses to collapse leaving many people homeless. recovery efforts are expected to be difficult due to the floods

that remain in part of the region. and more rain is expected although winds are dying down at this moment. now let's go to brazil then. the rio games are taking place. there's a frontal system located to the south of the area so we masee some winds ctinuing r the nexteveral days. we are looking at some rain to fall in the rio de janeiro area. so on wednesday it's going to be a wet day. we are looking at the high of 26 degrees. and it's going to thursday. temperatures will be cooling down significantly. the morning low could be only 17 degrees. so you may want to bundle up. as we go into tuesday, cloudy conditions. but heat will likely continue. that's it from me now. up next is your three-day forecast around the globe.

and with that we end this hour's nhk "newsline." i'md

>> hello and welcome to let them paris. i am annette. to bee: one thing friends, turkey's president mates russian president, saying he wants to rethink ties. another blow to donald trump's presidential campaign, with 50 republican national security ,xperts opposing his candidacy while criticizing his foreign policy. anro