welcome back to nhk "newsline." i'm minori takao with the latest at this hour. japanese prime minister shinzo abe is in hawaii to remember some of the victims of japan's surprise attack on pearl harbor. the strike on a u.s. naval base 75 years ago pulled the americans into the second world war. shinzo abe paid tribute monday to american war dead at the national memorial cemetery of the pacific. several japanese prime ministers have visited the site since world war ii. abe then visited the u.s. marine

corps air station. he paid tribute to a fighter pilolot of the former japapanes imperial navy, who died there during the attack on pearl harbor. abe also visited a memorial to a japanese fishery training vessel that sank off hawaii in 2001. it was accidently hit by a u.s. submarine. nine people died, including high school students. on tuesday, abe and the u.s. president will hold their last meeting before barack obama's term ends. they will also offer flowers and deliver remarks a at the site oa sunken u.s. battleship. the uss arizona is where nearly half of all pearl harbor victims died. people in honolulu are welcoming the visit. >> it's a good gesture. it's really nice. >> it's good for him to come here and get to meet the president and see what the situation was 75 years ago, you

know. >> well, ahead of the visit, the governor of hawaii gave an exclusive interview to nhk. he is a third generation japanese-amerirican. he says he hopes for deeper ties with japan and worked hard to make abe's visit happen. >> the real opportunity for president obama and primime minister abe being here is truly demonstrating to the world that there can be peace, even after a violent and horrific war. >> ige added that the event cac be seen as a symbol of hope for the future. for japanese-americans, world war ii pitted their ancestral home against their adopted one. 75 years after the attack on pearl harbor, one family is taking time to reflect on how it changed their lives.

nhk world's editor in chief has the story. >> reporter: this 92-year-old is a second generation japanese-american. he's also a world war ii veteran. when he heard that japanese prime minister would join the u.s. president for a tour at pearl harbor, it brought back a lot of memories from more than seven decades ago. his parents came to hawaii from rural japan. they worked hard on the coff farm, raisg g theininene chchildren. then camjajapan'surprpri attack opepearl rboror. theihohomela and the newew cotry beca bitter emies. volunteed to fighin the u.s. milary soonfter t atck. heas 18. >> our parts said,ell, yr country is wre you we born. you' americacitizen,o you have to ve as amican

citizen. >> reporter: he fought side by side with thousands of other japanese-american volunteers from hawaii. while manyny japanese-americans were interned at camps on the maininland, these men fought in eueurope. his regiment became the most decorated unit for its size in the history of american warfare. his son wesley says he feels thankful for his father's choice to fight for the u.s. >> they fought two wars. one with the enemy and secondly against discrimination and prejudice. for us, sensei, we realize that the world would have been a lot differently if my father and all of his buddieses did not go tot

war. >> reporter: he feels shinzo abe's visit to pearl harbor can be another step towards reconciliation between the two countries. >> i don't see anything wrong with it. in fact, that's the way you start. i think it's important. the first step you have to do is come down. >> reporter: he also feels that making a symbolic visit to a historic site isn't enough. he believes world leaders must lead by example in their political decisions to prevent new wars from happening and to prevent more deaths like those buried at this veterans cemetery. >> i think that worse than that can still happen. not only to the extent of pearl harbor, because the kind of technology that we have today, you know, even the bomb itself is improved so many times. actually, how much damage it could do, we probably won't do it. but we don't know. and, so, only with that, it's scary. >> reporter: nhk world, kona,

hawaii. japan's defense ministry has resumed construction to relocate a controversial u.s. marine base within okinawa. work had been suspended in march after the southern prefecture's governor canceled a landfill permit, but he was forced to reverse his decision because of a supreme court ruling last week. defense ministry officials restarted work on tuesday that inclcludes buiuilding storage facilities. they also say there are plans to resume surveying the seabed early next year. the work has been met with fresh protests, about 200 people gathered in front of the camp in

front of the construction site. the governor said the resumption was not a total surprise, but he said the base relocation will be a didifficult task. >> translator: i want to tel the central government that things won't progress so easily because residents of okinawa are so angry and sad. >> h he said he won't back down from dropping to stop the relocation. now, let's check the markets. tokyo stocks ended flat after moving with little clear direction in this holiday season. let's go to the details from our nhk market studio. >> volume remains thin as investors wind down for the end of the year. stilill, therere were a couple stand out shares that we were following. but let's have a look at the closing levels for tuesday,

december 27th, 19,403 for the nikkei in positive 0.03%. topix down .12%. key economic data came out before the markets opened. consumer price index for november fell for a ninth consecutive month. down 0.4%. the jobless rate rose to 3.1%. now to individual stocks, toshiba was a stand out stock. it tumbled today after the news of the company may post a huge loss of billions of dollars from its nuclear power operations in the u.s., down 11.62%. but shares of ono pharmaceutical surged on a report the company plans to sell its cancer drug to treat stomach cancer. ininvestors anticicipating trad to be thin in this last trading week of the year, but will continue to monitor any surprise moves.

now so south korea. lawmakers have been distancing themselves from scandal hit president park geun-hye. now others from her party are quitting. >> translator: we've dedecideto leave the partrty. president park loyalisists have forgotten the true values of conservatism, therefore they have lost the people's trust. >> the 29 legislators are expected to join a new party next monthth. more lawmakers are expected to join. for now, the largest opposition democratic party will become the largest force in the national assembly. observers sayay t the former mes may push for outgoing u.n.

secretary-general ban ki-moon to be their next nominee for president. constructition work has beg on a large cremation facility for thailand's late king. a large scale funeral will be held after a year long period of mourning for the country's revered king who passed away in october. a groundbreaking ceremony was held outside the royal palace en bangkok on monday. >> translator: we must build a facility beautiful enough for the great king. >> it's scheduled to be completed next september and will be demolished f following e crematioion. over 2 million people are said to have visited the palace to pay tribute to the late king. the number is expected to grow during the year-end and new year holiday. people in indonesia treat motorcycle taxis as a daily necessity. they are fast, cheap, and available to almost anyone.

thanks to a young entrepreneur and special machines, people with disabilities can now ride too. nhk world reports from jakarta. >> reporter: you don't even need to get out of your wheelchair to get into this taxi. it's modified to help passengers with disabilities get on and off with a minimum of assistance. i'm getting on the modified motorcycle for disabled people. i feel comfortable because the space is enough for one person. indonesian cities are expanding. wheelchair ramps are still a rare sight. that means transport for the disabled is especially handy. >> translator: it was

comfortable. now, i can go anywhere. i just making call. >> reporter: this man founded the taxi company. he suffered polio as an infant and walked with crutches since age 9. he previously ran a farm after graduating from college. he met others with disabilities and got to know their challenges. >> translator: i knew their situation. that made me feel i should do something for them. >> reporter: he bought used motorcycles. he fitted them with barrier-free side cars.

he hired people with disabilities as drivers. he says they understand the customers needs. his motor bike is specially modified. contntrols are moved to suit th driver. >> translator: i'm glad i could join this firm, get a job, and have colleagues. >> translator: people used to see those with disabilities as poor and incapable of doing anything. but now they can show how they can be useful to others. >> reporter: demand for the taxi is rising. this 41-year-old woman teaches at a school for children with special needs. she lost most of her sight after a childhood illness. the taxi has cut her commuting time by more than half. >> translator: i can now spend my time more efficiently. i've been enjoying my family life and i'm not the only one who feels things have changed. my daughters feel the same. they are happy because i come home earlier. >> reporter: indonesia's economy

is growing fast. by helping those with disabilities to live normal lives, the taxis ensure some people are not left behind. nhk world, yogukarta. ♪ women living in bangkok slums often struggle to find well-paying jobs, but some have caught the eye of a japanese designer who has zeroed in on theiring sewing skills. as nhk reports, an unusual collaboration is under way. >> reporter: these women are from one of the poorest areas of bangkok. they are sewing bags designed by a japanese designer.

>> translator: they are careful sewers and happy to use a ruler to get the exact measurements on the design drawings. >> reporter: the women live in thailand's largest slum and home to 100,000 people. he wanted to help local women working long hours for low pay. this person makes ribbon accessories. even on good days, she struggles to make ends meet. >> translator: i can make up to a hundred a day, but my daily income is less than $3. >> reporter: fujita believes combining his designs with local skills could be a winning combination.

>> trtranslator: we can increa each product's commercial value with the power of design. >> reporter: looking for inspiration, he spends time staying with a family in the area. his host, a 49-year-old sewing worker, was born and lived here. three generations of her family live under one roof. homemade ornaments and other items catch the designer's eye. >> translator: see how they added a bottle cap between the nail and the wood to make it stronger. they try hard to improve their

quality of life. >> reporter: the area is full of inspiration. people here make the most of what they have. >> translator: they use everything from vinyl tubes to wood and corrugated metal plates. i can tell how much they enjoyed it when they made these things. >> reporter: the sewing center where he works turns his designs into physical samples. this piece was inspired by life in the slums which can be a bit rough around the edges. the goal of the designs on this purse were influenced by the bottle caps in her home. >> translatator: they are innovative and beautiful. we'll be happy if they sell well because we made them with our own n hands. >> translator: hopefully they will have confidence in themselves that people start to

think of the slum as a place where beauautiful things are ma. >> reporter: collaborating are the foreign designer have given women the clothes to stitch together ambition for themselves and their families. nhk world, bangkok.. the japanese government estimates it will take more than 40 years to decommission the crippled fukushima daiichi nuclear plant. one e challenge is to encourage young peoplele to become engines and researchers to continunue t process. so a network of technological institutes has held a robotic competition to spark interest.

nhk world has more. >> reporter: students from technology colleges around japan are developing robots for decommissioning the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. the machines will compete each other. the contestants must create a robot that can work within the current environment ofof the nuclear planant. because e e plant has s thick walls, the r robots can't be controed b by relelessignals. ththeyave e toork in t d dark, erated remotely and becausof highgh radtion levels cames and semicouctors will only work for s short te e unss th are cered up. each team has to choose between operating their robot over rough terrain or climbing upstairs and it has to carry an object or survey the surrounding area. >> translator: working with

practical restrictions makes it more interesting. >> translator: i want to apply what i've learned at school in a place where this technology is needed the most. >> reporter: a team from fukushima is developing a robot that can carry objects. >> translator: we are the closest school to the power plant. we want to create a robot t tha can be used in decommissioning work. >> reporter: their college is about 50 kilometers from the crippled plant. this student is designing the group's robot. since the nuclear disaster, he's begun learning about atomic energy and now he wants to contribute to the decommissioning work. >> translator: this is the main

crawler that moves the machine itself and this subcrawler is used for climbing the stairs. >> reporter: the team decides to make a type of reinforced plastic to protect the robot camera from radiation. they have mixed copper powder with polyester resin to go between layers of fiberglass.. >> translator: it's pretty cool to make your own material. >> reporter: it will block gamma radiation. >> translator: this is our first attempt. we intend to work on each challenge as it ararises. >> reporter: 15 teams have come around the country to take part in the contest. the fukushima team makes its final adjustments. they are attaching the robot to the belt to help the robot climb the steps. the camera's radiation field is now in place too.

the competition begins. each team has come up with creative approaches but they all find it hard to complete their mission. many have problems controlling their robots remotely asas they can't actually see them. it's time for the fukushima team to get to work. the stairs are quite steep and the robot is unable to handle the 41-degree angle. the robot only manages to climb one step before the time runs out. the winners were the team from osaka. they scored high points for

using two robots together. one pushing and the other pulling. the fukushima team won a special prize for its radiation shield. >> translator: i realize now that nuclear decommissioning will not be easy. i want to make more improvements and use these ideas in designing robots. >> reporter: robots will be essential for the work of decommissioning the nuclear plant, so the challenge now is to inspire future engineers to develop the technology needed to complete the task. nhk world, nahara, fukushima. now, it's time for world weather. let's go to our meteorologist sayaka mori. let's start with central australia. it seems heavy rain has sparked flash floods and many parks have closed. > yes, over 230 millimeters rain in just 24 hours. that's six times more than the

average rainfall during this time of year. it impacted a tourist spot. let's go to some video from uluru. the p pk was closed on monday after an intense storm causesed heavy rain and severe e damage. water appeared over the rock which is a popular destination for auststralians s and foreign tourists. dozens of people were evacuated. the weather was extremely severe in the mid portions of australia. the low-pressure e system is no located orr the south and causing torrential rainfall. temperatures as follows, 32 in adelaide. you'll see thunderstorms persisting into your wednesday. there's a chance for thunderstorms once again in uluru. as well, sydney is going to be scorching hot on your thursday. the higigh could be 37 degrees r your thursday. across the philippines, a a typhoon made landfall in the northernrn areas of the countrtn

the weekekend and caused a loto heavy rainfall and a lot of damage. let's go to some video coming from lusan. 300,000 people were forced to spend their christmas in emergency shelters. in this area, at least 60% of infrastructure was destroyed due to winds of up to 250 kilometers per hohour. several peoplele were reportedly killed. it was t the strongest typon o record to hit the philippines at this time of the year. this system llll likely y approh vietnam. more rain is expected for the mid portions of vietm,m, at least for the xtxt severalal da. and across j japan we have a que stormy morning in tokyo. winds were q quite strong and heavy rainfall as well.

it's's not the case acss t the western flank of japan. heavy snow will continue continue tomorrow, especially in the north. nagano prefecture will receive snow for the next 24 hours. sapporo will see temperatures minus three for the high on wednesday and snow will continue the rest of the workweek. blizzard conditions affected the northern plains on monday. bismarck, north dakota, had nearly 30 centimeters of snowfall in just 24 hours. major highways were closed, so quite stormy c conditions affect thee north. the s system is now affecting eastern portions of canada, such as ontario and quebec. severe thunderstorms will likely happen across parts of the eastern united states. ahead of the cold front, temperatures are going to be quite warm. for example, washington, d.c., you'll see the high of 18

degrees. that's 10 degrees higher than normal. 21 degrees in atlanta on your tuesday. across the north and west, 6 degrees for the high in vancouver and seattle. here's your extended forecast. and that wraps it up for this edition of nhk "newsline."

we'll see you again at the top of the hour. i'm minori takao. thanks for joining us. qwueex

shih-tzu abe pays tribute in hawaii to hundreds of american soldiers killed in shinzo abe pays shih-tzu ab tribute to hundreds of american soldiers killed in pearl harbor. rescuers in russia find a black box of a military plane that went down sunday with 92 people on board. russia has reportedl