you. hello and welcome to nhk newsline. 14 million residents are struggling to deal with the spread of the coronavirus. officials reported 127 new cases on wednesday. bringing the total to more than 2400. authorities in tokyo and other prefectures are calling on residents to stay home as much as possible. officials want to reduce human

contact by 80% to curb the spread of the virus. they've also asked nonessential businesses to close. a team of experts in japan is warning people not to become complacent about staying safe. the worst-case scenario could see more than 400,000 people die worldwide if no measures are taken to contain infections. >> translator: if the epidemic is allowed to spread without any measures being taken the number of seriously ill patients will exceed the number of artificial respirators at hand. >> he added that at the peak, which is still to come, 850,000 people could be in serious condition. 22 other people at the home already tested positive this week. as the government tightens

travel restrictions andnd stepsp quarantine measures, the number of visitors to japan drastically dropped last month. the japan national tourism organization estimate that's about 194,000 visitors arrived in the country in march, down 93% from the same month last year. foreign travellers from china and south korea each dropped more than 97%. the commander of the u.s. forces in japan expand aid public health emergency declaration to cover all of japan on wednesday. the previous declaration included the greater tokyo area. they can force anyone with access to u.s. facilities including servicemen, civilians, contractors, and japanese employees to comply with health protection measures. across japan, more than 8400 people tested positive for the

virus. the national total does not include 712 cases linked to the diamond princess cruise ship, which was quarantined in yokohama in february. more than 180 people have died including 12 from the ship. >> vote counting started in south korea's general election. one of the fefrt national elections toto take plalace amie coronavirus pandemic. they estimate t the rulingg par will win a majority. kbs released the projection babased on exit polls b by theha election pool that the democratic party and its allies will secure 155 to 178 seats o t of 300. the electioion is heldd every f years. this was the first time the turnout exceeded 60% in 16 years. the 13 day campaign saw

candidates cancelling rallies and avoiding handshakes. all to keep the virus from spreading. voters wednesday were required to use hand sanitizer and wear gloves when casting ballots and maintain one meter distance between each other. south korea has seen over 10,500 cases but numbers have recently leveled off. the president's handling of the coronavirus crisis overshadowed other issues including the country's sluggish economy and souring interkorean relations. while moon himself isn't up for re-election, the vote willl decide control of parliament and impact his ability to accomplish his agenda and his administration's last two years. in europe, countries are divided over when and how to ease strict lockdown measures. it's been a month since the region began seeing an explosion

in cases. france's health care system is still struggling after a sudden surge in intensive care patients earlier this month. the government plans to boost the number of further too 14,00. he told nhk that dozens of critically ill patients were transported to other countries. >> translator: multiple waves of infections are to be expected. limiting outings is the only way to curb the spread of the virus. people in france won't return to normal life any time soon. nationwide restrictions set to tun f continue for another four weeks. >> austria is taking a different

response. the new infections are beginning to level off. in response, the government says it will gradually ease restrictions. some shops in vienna rereopened for thehe first timime in a mon. >> translator: sales dropped by half last month. i'm glad the store finally reopened. >> in italy which has the highest number of deaths in europe, the number of daily new infections has been on the decline since the end of last month. andd an expert that analyze medical dataa fromm italy told k thee kecurfew appearsrs to have workrked. >> translator:r: the e effects the curfeww started t to a appe the seconond weekek. and it has been effective to the maximum extent in the third week. >> johns hopkins university says

nearly two million peoeople arod the world h have been infected. the global death toll stands at more than 120,000. >> japan's economy is slammed by the coronavirus and small businesses have been hit hard. the that comes as authorities ask residents to stay home where possible and people spend less as the future looks uncertain. nhk reports on the problem from western japan. this report was recorded before the government declared a state of emergency. >> the government offers financial advice and interest free loans to small companies.

since march, there's been an explosion in inquiries. >> my debtt is piling up becaus i can't collect payments from residents. >> i had zero income in march. this has never happened before. i'm scared. abouout 1,400 loans have been approved so o far. >> w we had f far morore visisn expected. it showed us how big an impact this has had on everyone. >> the kans clags of big sporting events and concerts is a blow to company collecting for those events and this market analyst says a broad drop in spending is causing massive financial losses. >> translator: around the country, the retail sector has

experienced major losses. without a secure sense of their future income, consumers have been reluctant to spend. >> they usually busy some spring. but not this year. business has been quiet since february. >> it's different from the same season last year. everybody is uncertain about the future. we usually have a lot of cucustomers buying useded cars the cheaper price ranges. bubut nowow a lot of people wou rathther pay the annual inspectn fee and keep their old cars. >> he recently shared over $200,000 to refurbish his auto shop. and before the coronavirus emerged, his business has already grappling with the fallout from higher consumption

taxes. but now people aren't coming in for routine maintenance or oil changes. that's forcing tim to get creative. he says that more people have been visiting large parks and camp grounds and less risk of contagious there. so he is focusing on vehicles adapted for the great outdoors. >> translator: i have to find a way to survive. i'm always trying to think ahead. i can't let the coronavirus defeat me. the outlook for smaller companies remains clouded and uncertainty as the coronavirus spreads around the world. nhk world. >> the state of emergency has inspired him to convert a vehicle into a food truck. he is selling curry himself and hoping the exposure will attract

restaurant owners eager to get mobile too. whatever it takes, he says, he'll stay positive and do all he can to drive his business throrough the coronavirus crisis. people in japan had unseasonably warm weather on wednesday. our meteorologist joins us now to explain what is ahead for the rest of the week. >> the temperature rose above 20 degrees celsius in tokyo for the

first time in six days. but starting on thursday, it's going to be cooler. the high will be around 17 degrees for the next couple of days. that's four degrees drop in just one day in tokyo. and we will see rainfall on friday and in fact on thursday, we may see showers. have your umbrella handy. it will be a stormy saturday in tokyo. watch out for. that osaka will see sunny weather into thursday and then the rain will effect these areas on friday. and cherry blossoms have reached their peak today. the sunny weather will continue into friday. we have a lowow pressure systemn the south. that system will pull away. rain in okinawa will ease on thursday. now let's go to hawaii. on tuesday, heavy raiain hit ma places of hawaii including islands. rain will likely ease in many

places but honolulu might see heavy rainfall once again on wednesday. but typical gorgeous weather should return on thursday. as uche, hilo will see a chance for rainfall every day into the weekend. meanwhile, let's go to mainland united states. there is a possibility of heavy snowfall in the northern and central rockies. we might see up to 50 centimeters of snow falling in montana. there is a line of clouds affecting parts of florida and southern georgia. there is a concern for thunderstorms along with damaging winds. in the middle, we have freeze warnings in place from texas to ohio. so temperatures are going to be below zero at night in many places. so very cold conditions expected at night especially. so have your pets inside. temperatures during the day time are not too bad in the south. 17 in oklahoma city. 11 in denver. anand only 6 in chicago with sn possible in toronto on your wednesday. that's it for me.

stay safe. and that brings us to the end of this edition of nhk

"newsline." thank you for watching and do stay with usus for more. welcome to "news line" in depth. nine years ago, major earthquakes occurred on opposite sides of the world devastating communities in two countries, new zealand and japan.

when the tsunami hit in 2011, one of those that died is taylor aernd son. she had been in japan for 2 1/2 years living her dream of becoming an english teacher. since her death, taylor's parents have made frequent visits to japan. they have also set up a foundation to support children whose lives are still affected by the disaster. in our first story, we look at the impact the fund has had on one student in the tohoka region. >> anderson lives in the state of virginia. nine years after the tragedy, they still keep their daughter's ashes atmosphere home. this way they say they can feel her nearby. >> in here --

>> we never thought about burying her or anything. i don't think she'd want that. >> we thohought when we died we would -- the first one of us that died will put her with us. >> taylor anderson was teaching english to schoolchildren in tokyo. one of the city's hit hardest by the tsunami. she had told her parents that her dream was to act as a bridge between japan and the u.s. when a andy flew to japan to brg taylor's's ashes home, he was struck by the kindness of people there. >> they'd been through obviously a horrendous event but they were very concerned about, you know, taylor, what happened to taylor and her family. we knew taylor would want to help them. if she was still alive and

there, she would be trying to help. so we felt like we should fill that role. and we staerted the fund to hel students, families, and schools recover. >> recently the couple received a letter and some photos frorom student. she is one of the former recipients of the scholarship from their funund. >> currently i'm workiking cake shop. i'm happy to be able to make sweets. thank you for a lot of support. please take care of yourselves. sincerely. >> that's nice. >> that's nice. >> good for her. >> she was born and raised in the town where taylor lived.

on that fateful day, they surged up this river engulfing everything in its way. the water destroyed her house. it killed her mother. humans are so powerlrless. so many of us live on earth but we couldn't do anything to protect ourselves from nature. >> her mother was good a at makg cakes. as a young girl, she dreamt of becoming a professional baker. taylor's memorial fund helped that dream come true. the fund has been providing scholarships at this vocational school to students with families and struggling financially. they learn skills that can help them get a job such as making confectionaries or working in the hotel business.

she vividly remembers the anderson's visit to the school. >> translator: when they visited our school, andy said you lost your mother. it mur hast have been hard. i knew we h had similar experiences. i felt like crying. but they also gave me a warm feeling inside. >> he had is making a living as a baker but now she has an even bigger dream, to become a counselor helping children deal with traumatic experiences. >> translator: i know the stress of losing a parent. it's hard for children to go

through trauma to express themselves. i hope i can advice them on how to deal with that. i want them to know they are not alone. this is why i'm now studying psychology. >> taylor's legacy also lives on here at her alma mater, randolph macon college. students interest in japan has grown extensively following taylor's tragedy. the college has since expanded its japanese language and culture programs. and more than 200 students and faculty members have visited japan on exchange programs. the exchange has been suspended

for now. a visit to japan planned for this month had to be canceled due to the global coronavirus outbreaks. >> i was sad. a little disheartened. but i really have faith that we'll still be able to go. >> it's work both ways for us the last nine years. japanese people have lifted our spirits when we visited w with l their kindness and friendship. so we hope that we can return that favor. >> this is a tree that gejean a andy planted on campus. it has plenty of cherry blossom buds waiting for warmer spring days to fully bloom, just like the ones taylor saw in japan. nhk world, virginia. besides the scholarship program, the taylor anderson memorial fund is presenting

schoolols and kindergartens in city w with english books,s, esespecially ones that taylor ud to love. these so-called taylor libraries have become very popular with the local children. the foundation has also been a summer exchange programs for high school students in the city and richmond, virginia, where taylor grew up. taylor's dream was to become a bridge between the two countries by inspiring students and bringing them closer together this way the foundation is now accomplishing that goal. now the city of christchurch in new zealand is located in an area of great seismic activity. a major earthquake in february 2011 caused massive damage to the city, especially to structures already weakened by a quake the previous year. many buildings in the city's center collapsed and residential areas would be hit by widespread

land elevation. because it was unfeasible economically to rebuild infrastructure, more than 8,000 households were relocated to other locations. areas that were once much loved neighborhoods were left empty. but these patches of wasteland are now starting to be used more productively as we see in our second report. former residential areas have been unoccupied for years. spaces like this are not an uncommon sight in christchurch. >> i expected there to be more reconstruction after such a long period. >> but some of the land has found sececond lifife as commun gardens. this area experienced a huge shortage after the earthquake. residents now plant vegetables and fruit in a community garden. thisis woman used to live in th neighborhood. >> shock more than anything

really to see what had happened there. >> the foundation of the home was seriously damaged during the earthquake. the government ordered many people in the area to move out. for years, the neighborhood was filled with open spaces. rouse says the emptiness was a constant reminder of of what they lost. >> community of people is something that very hard to replace. there was quite a lot of unhappiness. >> on this day, rouse visited the land where her house used to be. it has been transformed into a community garden. her friends planted flowers and trees. >> we all wanted that sense of community and connection after the earthquake. >> now the garden is place for people to gather and enjoy each other's company. and many people come to take part or even just drop by. >> it's really lovely. >> it's great to get the

community together. isn't it? it's hard to see where the place looks now. >> the far better than a big piece of green grass and people are using it as a way to keep up social interactions. i'm very, very happy with that. >> community gardens are bringing back a sense of unity and belonging to the area. while also adding baa bit of green. >> there is now a network of kmu community guard nenz christchurch. the new zealand government recognizes the role the spaces play in helping to regenerate the city and supporting them by making the land available for rent at low cost. besides providing food in the vent of an emergency, these spaces create a sense of community through the participants daily interactions

and enhance the city's resilience to any future disaster. both the taylor libraries and the garden we just saw will always be reminder of the painful loss. but necessity also honor and celebrate life and that must be a solace for the survivors as they continue to go through the process of healing and recovery. to close this program, we leave with you footage from a prefecture near tokyo. it was badly affected b by a series of typhoons last autumn that devastated the local agriculture. now spring is bringing new life and the poppy flowers here reminders of nature's resilience. that's it for t today's "newsli indepth." thank you for watching and we'll see you again next time. ♪

>> widespread criticism of the u.s.ump after president accuses the world health organization of mismanaging the coronavirus prices and withhold funding. of debtest countries rerepayment will be released ths records 30 newia cases of covid-19, the biggest one-day rise, two weeks