it's a tuesday evening here in japan. i'm james tengan in tokyo. welcome to nhk "newsline." people in japan's northeastern toe hoe cue region are on alert for another strong quake. a magnitude 7.4 tremor hit off the coast tuesday morning. >> translator: large furniture didn't fall over, but books and things did. i wasn't seriously hurt, but as

i was evacuating, i pulled a muscle in my lower back. >> japan's meteorological agency initially told residents to evacuate over fears of a tsunami. officials say waves almost 1 1/2 meters high hit the coast and forced rivers to flow backwards. this video was filmed by a woman in miyagi prefecture. in neighboring fukushima prefecture, parts were devastated by a tsunami and nuclear accident five years ago. >> translator: i felt strong shaking, but it was weaker than the earthquake in 2011. i thought something terrible might happen, so i tried to escape to higher ground right away. >> local community centers were designated as shelters. in fukushima prefecture alone, thousands of residents piled in. there are no reports of major

damage, but emergency response officials say at least a dozen people suffered injuries, most were minor. the tsunami caused minor trouble at an offline nuclear plant that's not far from fukushima daiichi, the plant crippled in the 2011 disaster. tokyo electric power company says that cooling systems stopped but later resumed without problems. the system controls the temperature at a spent nuclear fuel pool in the reactor three building of the fukushima daini plant. daini means number two. tepco officials say the system automatically shut down when the tsunami hit because it detected waves in the pool, but they found no irregularities, so they reactivated the water pumps less than two hours later. the daiichi plant that was damaged in 2011 and is less than 20 kilometers away. they confirmed that radiation

levels at multiple monitoring posts in the region are normal. the earthquake is having an impact on economic activity. gene otani from our business desk is here with the details. >> many companies were affected by the earthquake that hit northeastern japan on tuesday. there are no reports of major damage, but some plants suspended operations to be on the safe side. major automaker nissan has halted production at its engine factory in the city of iwaki in fukushima prefecture. workers have been evacuated from the plant and are safe. the plant is being checked for possible damage. chemicalmaker kuraha halted production but work has now resumed. several supermarkets and convenience stores in fukushima, miyagi, and ibaraki prefectures closed temporarily to evacuate employees. they're reopening as they confirm the safety of their outlets. checking the markets, tokyo share prices edged higher after a cautious reaction to the

earthquake in northeastern japan. a resilient dollar and higher oil prices supported sentiment. our business reporter reports from the tokyo stock exchange. >> risk weary investors sold the dollar and stocks in the initial knee-jerk response, but the dollar bounced back and stocks regained strength in the afternoon as market players saw that quake damage was limited. the nikkei 225 added 0.3%, ending at 18,162. that's the highest close since early january and marks five straight days of gains. the broader topix advanced for the ninth session, adding 0.3%. we saw a slight dip in the dollar-yen pair as traders bought the safe haven yen in the hours after the quake. the dollar recovered and tokyo in the afternoon. tokyo electric power closed 1.4% lower. that followed reports a cooling system for spent nuclear fuel at a fukushima power plant had halted temporarily. shares of nissan also fell 1.4%.

as we've been reporting, the carmaker has suspended operations at its factory in fukushima. wednesday is a national holiday in japan, and thursday is thanksgiving in the u.s., so many investors are refraining from placing big bets during these breaks. most of the markets in the asia pacific region also ended higher. the shanghai composite was up nearly 1%. that's the highest in more than ten months. hang seng rose 1.4%. sydney advanced by 1.16%. resource shares led the rally after oil prices jumped on speculation opec might agree next week to limit their daily output. the philippine index bucking the trend, down 2.5%, 6,802 for the closing number, lowest since early march. the country's weak currency dragged down share prices. the peso hovered at an eight-year low against the

dollar. u.s. president-elect donald trump says he will follow through on a campaign pledge to leave a major trade deal. >> on trade i am going to issue a notification of intent to withdraw from the transpacific partnership, a potential disaster for our country. instead, we will negotiate fair bilateral trade deals that bring jobs and industry back onto american shores. >> the website of trump's transition team says leaving the tpp is a priority issue to be tackled in the first 100 days of his presidency. during thehe campaign trtrump promised o on his rsrst day in office he'd nonounce the u u.s. would withdraw from the free trade pact. the japanese government's top spokesperson says tokyo will keep pushing for the tpp deal anyway. chief cabinet secretary yoshihide suga said it would be presumptuous to say anything about what policies trump intends to follow. he says japanese officials will

continue working on ratification of the free trade deal. >> translator: the u.s. is going through a change of administration and japan must lead procedures to push the tpp deal forward. the japanese government will try to speed up discussions on the tpp in the diet. >> suga says the government would carefully monitor the situation during the remainder of u.s. president barack obama's term. executives at tranansasia airwayss say they'y'll wind dow the struggling company andnd en flights, ending 65 years of operations. >> translator: the board has decided to dissolve transasia airways. >> taiwan's firirst privavate airline operatess to japan, china, and elsewhere. executives have struggled to

stop a decline since two fatal plane crashes in 2014 and 2015. their decision is expected to be finalized at a shareholder meeting in january. a project is under way in japan to use artrtificial intelligence and big data to improve health care. the medical university in hokkaido and six hospitals in the region use a cloud server to provide remote health care services. the univerersity plans to team with ibm japan and two other firms to complete big data. they'll use watson to analyze the data, give diagnoses, and choose the current correct treatment. the officials say they'll start with cases involving diabetes and heart disease. herere's a look at some of e other business stories we're following. sales at japan's department stores fell for the eighth consecutive month in october. they totalled about $4.3

billion. that's down 3.9% in yen terms from a year earlier. warmer than usual weather meant people bought less autumn and winter clothing. sales of duty-free items targeting foreign tourists continue to decline. major apparel maker onward holdings has launched a new business as sales of clothing slows down. it's now selling food on the internet. officials at onward say the firm's new online store offers about 3,000 items, featutures local specialties from across japan. it's a japanese term that conveys a sense of regret when things are wasted, but now some businesses are translating that feeling into products aimed at making the world a better place. >> reporter: insert only used office paper into this machine and one hour later clean paper

comes out the other end. it can turn 100 pieces of used paper into roughly 90 fresh white sheets. this company used to discard ten tons of paper a year. >> translator: we managed to reduce our paper purchases by 20% to 30%. >> reporter: the system was developed by a company that makes photocopiers. here's how it works. first the used paper is shredded. then the pieces are dissolved in water and special bubbles skim off the ink. finally, the remaining fiber is spread into a thin air and dried in a spinning drum. but the system doesn't just reduce paper waste. it also provides an efficient way to dispose of confidential documents.

>> translator: these machinenes are eco-friendly and help safeguard company information. that's why people are buying them. >> reporter: the motanai spirit is also finding its way into devices that can be used during emergencies. kumamoto prefecture was hit by a series of strong earthquakes in april. yasahiro goto was among the victims. his neighborhood lost power. luckily, goto's house was equipped with a storm battery. he was able to cook rice and share it w with his neighbors. >> translator: we had enough power for three days. it really helped. >> reporter: but such help doesn't come cheap. high-capacity devices pick goto's can cost about $30,000. so attempts are under way to make them more affordable by reusing lithium ion batteries from electric vehicles. 4r energy is a subsidiary of

nissan motor. some of the electric vehicles that nissan sold six years ago will soon be h headed for the e scrap heap. but their batttteries still hava lot of life left in them. the people at 4r energy believe those batteries can be recycled for domestic use and that could reduce the price of home storage batteries by almost half. >> translator: things should be used until the very end of their useful life. if they reach the limit for one purpose, they could be reused for another. our job is to find new ways to use our products to extend their life as much as possible. >> reporter: the motanai spirit could lead to more eco-friendly business ideas and that would be good news for consumers and the planet.

you can catch her report again online together with a full transcript. look for nhk world and business wrap. that's a look at business news. i'm going to leave you with the markets. as the syrian war drags on, disagreements within the u.n. security council are preventing it from taking any action. that's despite hearing from officials monday about almost 1 million people who are besieged and many others lacking access to medical care. the w.h.o.'s representative in syria described the situation in eastern parts of aleppo, which

are controlled by anti-government forces. >> all eight of its hospitals have either been put out of action or only barelely functioning. >> lelizabeth hoff said 126 medical facilities were hit by air raids and other attacks. 11 hospitals and clinicscs were attacked this month alone in northern aleppo, where fighting has intensified. at the meeting, the u.s. called on russia and syrian president bashar al assad's government to stop aerial a attacks in ththe . russia is arguing it's controlled by terrorists. south korea is one step closer to having a special prosecutor investigate president park geun-hye, who has been embroiled in a political scandal that's led to mass protests and calls for her to step down. on tuesday its cabinet approved

a bill that would allow opposition parties to nominate two candidates for the position. once selected, park will be able to choose between the two. park can stop the passage of the bill, but her presidential spokesperson says she will accecept it.t. the special prosecutor will be independent from the government and is expected to begin working as early as december. the prosecutor will then have up to 120 days to conduct an inquiry. a lawyer for park has rejected all alallegations by general prosecutors. to date park has refused requests for questioning. her lawyer says she will instead prepare for the investigation by the special prosecutor. park is accused of being linked to a scandal i involving her long-time friend choi soon-sil and two former aides. the three were indicted on suspicion of fraud, conspiring to abuse power, and leaking state secrets. meanwhile, south korea's cabinet meeting also approved a milestone agreement with japan

regarding the sharing of military intelligence. the pact enables defense officials in both countries to share information directly, including on north korea's military actions. the pact faced resistance from opposition lawmakers. they say military intelligence should not be handed to japan, and they say they're set to submit a motion to fire the country's defense minister. a defense spokesperson says the ministry will make efforts to change the minds of lawmakers who are opposed to the pact. bad weather is being blamed for a 56-car pileup on an expressway in northern china. auauthorities say 17 people die and d many more were injured the state-run xinhua news agency said the accident occurred monday morning. footage from the site shows trucks and cars overturned across three lanes. >> translator:r: the fog was heavy, so i drdre slowly when i

exited the tunnel. i saw two vehicles blocking the road, so i stepped on the brakes. >> the road was s reportedly slippery due to snow. an investigation into the cause of the accident is under way. people struggle on a daily basis with no access to proper toilets. the u.n. says it's a problem for a third of the world's population, and the proportion is even higher for india. one group is t trying to teach children the importance of proper sanitation. about 300 students attended an event organized by an indian civic group in recognition of world toilet day. almost half the country, 600 million people, live without toilets. students were told many children become sick from infectious diseases every year and some of them even die. >> it can harm them.

>> students visited the museum of toilets run by the group. the museum teaches the history of human beings' use of toilets. this comes from 2,500 b.c. despite the current state, india was the first in the world to begin using toilets. then there's this display. a simple type of a toilet that the group hopes will see wider use in rural india. it's designed to use human waste as manure. >> once you improve sanitation, you'll improve efficiency, productivity, good health, world health. for people with intellectual disabilities, finding work and living independently can be a challenge. in western japan, there's a program that's helping them do just that in a way you may find

surprising. nhk world's yuki yamamoto reports. ♪ >> reporter: a fiery god confronts an evil snake in this staging of a famous japanese myth. it's a scene from a performance of "kagura," a style of theatrical dance. people in the iwami area of western japan have been performing it for centuries. >> translator: it t was amazing and powerful. >> reporter: players on this day are members of a local welfare facility. many of them have intellectual disabilities. the center has been encouraging them to perform kagura for 30 years. daisuke oka plays one of the key roles. he's adept at handling the bulky snake costume while moving gracefully. oka has a mild intellectual

disability and finds it difficult to communicate with others. but working with his fellow performers has helped him grow, and now he often speaks up. >> translator: i get hyped up when i perform. it makes life fun. >> reporter: the confidence oka gained from the stage helped him start living independently. in april, he was hired by a building management company and works as a janitor. his boss says oka has s a posite atattitude toward d his job b a picks things up quickly. >> translator: he communicates well with other members of staff. and i believe he's a good team player. >> reporter: people at the facility not only perform kagura, they also make costumes and props. their work has gained a good reputation and troupes around the country send in orders. thisis brings in nearly $1 milln a year, which helps the

craftsmen remain independent. >> translator: their ability to concentrate and to work with others grows through the performance and production process. the confidence and even the money they receive is a great encouragement to them. >> reporter: in fact, the efforts of oka and his colleagues have been so successful, they've been invited to an arts festival in france in october next year. they are now working hard to improve their performance. >> translator: i'm nervous because it will be my first appearance abroad. but i'm looking forward to it. >> reporter: performing tradition is a great source of local pride. it's also helping people with intellectual disorders to find a

place for themselves in the local community. yuki yamamoto, nhk world. you're watching nhk "newsline" live from tokyo. jonathan oh joins us now with this hour's weather update, starting with the first winter storm in the u.s. >> we are seeing some winter weather moving through northern portions of the united states. it is the week of thanksgiving, and so for those who are living in the country, they're getting ready to see more of that late fall, winter type feeling. as a low pressure system moved through portions of upstate new york, we saw a decent amount of snowfall. let me show you video coming out of the area monday. look at the wind blowing through. the first winter storm o of the season has pummeled the state with as much as 15 centimeters of snow and it was heavy. it triggered numerous car accidents and forced businesses and schools to close. the worst accident occurred near marathon.

that's where a bus carrying high school students skidded off the road and overturned. unfortunately 11 people were injured because of that. we are looking at more snowfall coming up as we go throughout the day on tuesday. here's a look at the visible satellite imagery. this is literally a picture from space. if you look very closely the way that the streaks of clouds are developing coming out of the lakes, this is lake-effect snow developing. but as it rolls over, you may get to see patches of white specks. these areas are actually places where we are seeing that snowfall taking place. this is one of the unique things you can tell from a visible satellite imagery that you cannot see on ir imagery. the first slide that i was showing you earlier. anyway, what's happening is we have a couple of areas of low pressure still moving toward the north and east. that's going to usher in the

possibility of additional snowfall as we go through the day tuesday. high pressure behind it will help trigger a very strong surge of northerly winds into the eastern seaboard and that's going to bring temperatures down. it's going to be chilly as we go through the day tuesday and even into wednesday. now back toward the west, we do have a low pressure system coming in. that's going to mix in with warm air and that's going to lead to the possibility of some strong thunderstorms from time toto ti. the coldirir surge c coming in from the north is going to really drop temperatures back toward the west, but ahead of that, because the high bringing in a southerly flow, we're going to see the possibility of some thunderstorm activity. so be on the lookout for that. those of you located along the southern plains into the western portions of the deep south, you'll be looking at that activity. more snow possible for areas further up to the north into canada. meanwhile, further toward the west, we have high pressure that's dominating the weather. that's the reason why we're seeing cold air being pulled into the rockies.

another system is coming onshore for the west coast. that is going to bring a chance for some rain as we go through the day on tuesday. vancouver a high of 9. 10 in seattle. 20 in los angeles with sunny skies. thunderstorms into houston with a high of 26. notice a high of 6 in new york city. it's going to be a bit cool as we go through tuesday. now i want to take us over to japan.n. keep an eye on what's happening over into fukushima where reported low of 8 degrees.s. it was a bit cooool this mornin. more cold air is on the way and more rain is on the way with a possibility of snowfall even impacting portions of the kanto region. we may be dealing with it because cold is coming in from the north and west and that's going to move its way down into areas close toward tokyo. because of that we're looking at the possibility of some flurries into the picture especially for the higher elevations. and then that moisture is going to stay around through thursday. wednesday, thursday is when we're going to see that target time. then we'll start to see the temperatures moving back up as we go into friday and saturday. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extended outlook.

the city of light is now a city of lights. to celebrate christmas, thousands of bulbs have been lit in trees lining the champs-elysees in the frfrench capital. a ceremony took place on monday evening to illuminate 400 trees along a two-kilometer stretch of the iconic boulevard. olympic gold medalists were among those on hand. many tourists and local residents went to enjoy the spectacle and took photos. last year, the event was canceled due to the deadly terror attacks in the city. >> it's great. i'm glad they didn't cancel it again for fear of terrorist attacks. it felt very safe. >> the loigts -- lights will

stay on until january 8th. and that concludes this hour's nhk "newsline." be sure to watch "newsroom tokyo" at the top of the hour.cñ

hello and welcome to "live from paris." i'm and at young. president-elect donald trump says he will be scrapping the transpacific free trade deal on his first day in office. -- francois fillon is to battle it out with alain juppe.