♪ hello. welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm yamamoto miki in tokyo. japan is bracing for more torrential downpours through friday as a lingering seasonal rain front threatens the western and eastern parts of the country. the rain has already left flooding and landslides along japan's archipelago in its wake. the meteorological agency says

damp air is flowing toward the seasonal rain front destabilizing atmospheric conditions and causing rain clouds to develop in kyushu and tokai among other areas. the front will cause heavy rain and thunder over wide areas of western and eastern japan on thursday. rainfall of more than 50 millimeters per hour is predicted. during the 48 hours ending saturday morning, kyushu and shikoku can expect between 300 and 400 mill meeters of rain. and kanto, 150 to 250 millimeters. so far 59 people are confirmed dead. four have no vital signs, and 16 others are still missing. in south western japan, a car believes to have a family inside swept away by flooded river water and police are searching for passengers.

kuma village in kumamoto prefecture has seen majority of casualties. self-defense forces personnel rescued stranded residents who expressed both a desire to stay positive and confusion over what steps to take now. >> translator: if someone next to me, i will feel depressed so i want to help everyone cheer up. >> translator: i will go to kumamoto city where my daughter lives, but i wonder what i'm going to do next. >> there are still 64 house holds comprising 125 people in two other towns in the prefecture that remain isolated and await help. now to the latest on the coronavirus in japan where restrictions on large gatherings such as sports matches and concerts will ease on friday. the government has told local authorities to make sure organizers remain cautious. organizers and stadium managers

must check the temperature of everybody who comes to their event. people with a fever or other symptoms should be refused entry and given a refund. japan's professional baseball league started its season last month without spectators. fans will be welcomed back on friday, butut they shouldn't expect a typical ball game. they're being asked to wear masks, limit cheering, and leave musical instruments like trumpets at home. over 200 new caseses of the vir were confirmed across japan on wednesday. 75 of those were in tokyo, below 100 for the first time in a week. the country has recorded over 20,000 cases in total with nearly 980 deaths. many cases in tokyo have been linked to night life in districts such as shinjuku. that area plans to give about $900 to people who have been infected.. nhk has learned that organizers of the tokyo olympics

and paralympics have secur all venues for the games which were postponed to next year due to the coronavirus pandemic. the organizers had been in talks with owners of the 43 venues, the athletes village and other facilities. in mid-june, negotiations were under way over the use of tokyo dig site which is to house a media center, a venue for sports including wrestling and the athletes' village. officials say there is still some issues to be worked out including the use of facilities for preparatory work. the organizing committee plans to announce new competition schedules as early as july 17 when a meeting of the international olympic committee is scheduled. the gamemes will run for 17 day from july 23rd, 2021, just one day different from the original date of july 24 this year. the international paralympic committee says it is ready to consult with athletes on how they can express their views at the games on sensitive matters

such as race or gender equality. the committee's athletes council planned to gather views and ideas from paraathletes around the world. this comes as the antiracism movement triggered by the death of george floyd in the u.s. spread into the world of sports. last month, former u.s. track and field olympian jean carlos called on the international olympic and paralympic committees to scrap their rules banning athletes from protesting at the games. the chairperson of the paralympic committee's athletes' council says the daily fight against discrimination is one that all people with disabilities are familiar with. she says it seems logical to allow protests. committee president andrew parsons says they can work out what changes may be needed for the tokyo games after the consultation. japan's manufacturing sector is looking for ways to come back

from covid-19. but rather than making plans for beyond the pandemic, our next report shows that some companies are facing the world as it is, developing products for the corona era. >> tooth picks are a humble but essential implement for eating japanese sweets. these are made of domestic lumber. they're a main part of this manufacture's business. sales are half what they were lalast year, but the company is ready to fight back. it's thinking long, at least longer than a tooth pick. the combat commodity is a wooden stick. it can be used to push buttons without touching them. six days after coming up with the idea, the company had it available for sale. >> translator: i thought of it when i saw pictures of a person in wuhan using a tooth pick to push an elevator button. i realized we could make

something that could help avoid direct contact. >> the product won't make up for the shortfall in sales, but it's boosted employee morale. >> translator: our staff have been discouraged by the drop off in orders since the virus situation began. now people seem very happy to be working again. >> another manufacturing outfit, this one in the city of osaka, also is turning its attention to pandemic products. in ordinary times, it makes display panels and booth partitions for expos and trade shows. however, almost all major events have been cancelled at least until the summer. some of the employees had an aha moment while watching people line up at an atm. they realized their technology is exactly what these times demand. it can be used to create partitions that separate lines of people and thus prevent the virus from spreading. the screens are transparent to

discourage crimeme. airr circulates through the bottom half. >> traranslator: i think our employee skills have grown through this experience. i hope it makes the company more resilient. >> necessity is said to bebe th mother of invention. these two companies are taking responsibility for nurturing the public and themselves. in the u.s., many americans hoped summer would curve the spread of the coronavirus. instead, cases are surging and have pushed past 3 million. nhk world's catherine kobayashi reports. >> firefighters in arizona rush out on yet another emergency call. they arrive to find a construction worker complaining of headaches and a fever. his partner just gave birth over the weekend to their son.

>> what am i going to do? i don't know. >> the virus has surged in arizona, florida, california across the sun belt. for the first time, new cases nationally the nationally in a day have topped 60,000. since the beginning, over 3 million cases in all. hospitals are running short on beds. testing centers are running out of swabs. and several states that forged ahead with re-opening are rolling back. >> we saw lar gatherings over we've see m mulpleathering rroundinraduation. we saw demonstrations. we sawhe fouh of jul celeations. seng an uptick in numbe. acros the countr the vir has killed more than 13000 people. stil the president minimiz the severitf thetbreak. again, morortality rate the lowt

in the world. >> it's a false narrative to take comfort in a lower rate of death. >> some americans are sticking to such narratives. disney world in florida will re-open this weekend even as cases climb. for many, another troubling tale in fantasy land. catherine kobayashi, nhk world, new york. a u.s. clothier with 200 years history has become the latest victim of the coronavirus. brooks brothers has filed for bankruptcy protection. the company opened its first store in new york in 1818 and survived two world wars and the great depression. the company has supplied suits to nearly every u.s. president as well as wall street executives. but the virus has dried up demand for tailored business attire. more people are dressing casually while working at home and buying their clothes online.

the retail sector was under severe pressure even before the pandemic. rivals barney's new york filed for bankruptcy protection late last year. officials at brooks brothers say they will continue operations as they restructure. they're also looking to re-open shops that are not being closed permanently.

now let's turn to tsietsi monare for weather updates. as we've been reporting, torrential rain is wreaking havoc along japan's archipelago. weather experts are warning the dangerous conditions continue. >> indeed the conditions continue. i want to take you back just a few days ago, starting from friday, between friday and thursday r, just about a week, maybe six days or so, we have seen rainfall triple the amounts that you would normally see in the whole month of it has been quite devastating. and towards naga as well. almost 900 millimeters of rainfall in the same period of time just indicates to you that the warming of the planet and the warming conditions are going to lead to even more severe storms in the future for us so we should expect these situations to continue. that's basically what's been

happening as well. we've seen the warm air coming in rising in towards the seasonal front feeling the storm making it quite stronger and it will lead us to situations like this where in the next three or four days where we have already exceeded the amount of rainfall we can get, we're going to carry on receiving higher amounts of rainfall. and additional rainfall in places severely benefitted such as kyushu into central park and japan could lead to further disaster such as landslides and people losing valuable property. we need to be careful going forward and listen to the evacuation orders when they come through. in term of temperatures and rainfall, tokyo will get a break by saturday. but by sunday we'll see rainy conditions continue again in certain parts. and crossing over in towards china, there's similar devastation here. let's jump into this video where you will see heavy rain that came from massive r rnstorms continuiui in chinina mainly

triggering landslides, mud slides, and floods just like in japan. some of the accumulated rainfall since the first of j june has reached the highest level since 1961. so, it's quite a lot for this time of the year. nothing really changes. tempereratures warm and staying high. that's where i'll leave it for the weather. take care.

and that is all for this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm yamamoto miki in tokyo. thank you for staying with us on nhk world-japan. ♪ ♪ welcome to "newsline in depth." i'm shibuya aki. summer in japan is a time of reflection. it marks the end of world war ii. each year, lessons of the conflict become harder to hand down as the number of survivors decline. in our stories today, wlee lookt

how young people are finding new ways of sending out messages of hope. this year has been significant has it's the 75th anniversary of the end of the war. on june 23rd,kinawa commemorated the victims of o o ofhe blooest vtims of world war ii, the battlee of inawa,etetweenhe u u.s. military and theowow defunct japanesese imperial army claime the lives of more than 200,000 soldiers and civilians. echos of the war still hang over okinawa which shoulders about 70% of the u.s. military facilities in japan. but this year, the children of soldiers of one u.s. base created a message of peace, featuring paper cranes. >> one by one, origami c cranes take flight around the world as symbols of peace, bringing people together.

the video was made by former pupils at an elementary school located on the u.s. military base in okinawa, japan. five years ago, the school started teaching its students about the battle of okinawa. these classes are taught by this woman. she believes it is important to know the history of the place you live in. shimojo's father and grandfather fled to a cave to escape the fighting. her family survived but many other people hiding in island caves lost their lives. >> if my family don't survive, i won't be able to standing here, okay? >> these two families are fighting against each other in your house, how would that make you feel? >> upset. >> bringing t the tragic story

life, shimojo wants the children to put themselves in the shoes of civiliansns holed up. three years ago, the school learned of a disturbing event. stacked a memorial of the war. the site honors victims of a mass suicide at one of the caves. seeing the destruction, shimojo put out a call on social media asking for help to make new paper cranes. people around the world responded. shimojo says the incident was an opportunity for her students t listen more closesely to the stories of the people of okinawa. >> the important part of this is toto l listen and try to undere the other side of the people. i want too becomome the futurur what they'y're seeingg while

they're here. >> because of the new ronavirus,s, the students w wer unablele to visit war memorials this year. shimojo organized an onlnline projecect. shshe receieived vidideos notot from her former students, but students from local schools as well. one of those took part is anna miller, from maryland in the united states. anna has a japanese mother and an american father. she first learned abobout the battle of okinawaa in shimojs class. anna says the class had herer ththinking about her own place the worldld. >> it made me feel really gratefulul that i'm living in a time where there's not w world wawa going on. kindnd o of privileleged and i o use myy privilege to speak out

against what's wrong. >> l listening to anna, shimomo realized the true volume of her class. >> i was a actually tearing, so thankk you. >> thanknk you for thinking of for this project.. >> if we don't teach t the past we cannot have a better understanding of the present society a and our life and move forward to a briright future. >> that message of peace and hope was shared by 111 people around the world on junee 2 23r the day okinanawa remembers the victims of the world. nhk world. another catastrophe of the war we could never forget is the atomic bombings of hiroshima and nagasaki. our next story looks at a major

artwork about the bombings in danger of being lost. it's now become the focus of a rescue operation. >> people roaming like ghosts, flames engulfing victims. the hiroshima panels depicts the devastation of the first atomic bombing 75 years ago. >> this couple started the project five years after the bombing. iri w from hiroshima a saw ey. devastation withhis ownwn the maruki's spent three decades placing the sies of 15 paintitings. in 1 1967, theyey built a galal next to their home nororthwest tokyo. for half a century, their creation has testified to the

atrocities of war. but now it's under threat as the building is getting old. >> translator: you can see the ceiling right above this painting is leaking and beginning to peel away. >> recent extreme weather is adding to the danger. this is what happens when torrential rain hits. the panels are worn in places, damaged from ultraviolet light poses another problem. the curators says the gallery needs a new home as soon as possible. but how to pay for it? the facility relies only on entry fees and donations. but when the coronavirus pandemic struck it had to close for two months. the gallery was at a cross roads. >> i thought it was high time we reconsidered how we operate the

galle gallery. we just mainly relied on the number of visitors to get by. >> amid the crisis, the gallery is aiming for a kind of rebirth. the average age of the staff was over 50 and they only accepted donations through money orders sent by mail. but a new generation of workers have started to make big changes. one is bilingual. another is a fundraising expert. yumiko h has been a fan s since was a child. she says she feels driven to help thehem now. >> we need to keep w working to get young people involved, maybe the people from overseas involved. and that part was lacking. >> they launched a crowd funding

online. they're creating a virtual tour of the gallery so people around the world can get to know the maruki's art. she thinks it's important to spread the message of the hiroshima paintings saying it's just as relevant today. >> there was all about feeling the pain of others as being of your own. so, that's the universal message that we need to feel the pain of others. so, that is universal. >> translator: we want to preserve these works foror the futurere. working hand in hand with people in japan and around the world. >> the history of this small but special gallery continues with the next generation writing the next chapter.

nhk world. >> the crowd funding project is still ongoing with people around the world sending in over $7,500 so far. the gallery plans to launch its virtual tour on the anniversary of the atomic bombing of hiroshima to send a message of peace around the world. and speaking of messages, people couped up for days because of the coronavirus are re-evaluating the importance of keeping in touch. one train station near tokyo has set up an old-fashioned blackboard so that passengers can reach out to each other. >> thihis is japan railways higashi kanagawa station. in april, a three meter plus message board appeared on the wall by the ticket gate. i'm set up working from home. i want to go back to the office soon. i hope we get back to normal life quickly. >> back in the days when

everyone didn't have smartphones, people used the message boardrd to put up meeti times for each other to check. now they're using it to share how they feel as the pandemic drags on. >> translator: i think it's very good. looking at this message board, i can feel the presence of other people and feel a connection with them. >> this woman is an office worker who has been working from home. >> after the pandemic began, young staffers at the station

suggested reviving the board to allow passengers to share their thoughts and communicate with one another. they felt that handwritten messssages m might seem warm a encouraging. >> translator: the station was a bit depressing with so few passengers. we hope the message b boards wi help cheer eveveryone upup. ♪ >> translator: i wrote that i want to see my best friend. i'm lonely, and i want to see her face. we have so much to talk about.

>> now the station workerskers to keep the message board up as long as possible to give pars an extra extra human touch. >> in this time of crisis, sharing our feelings can certainly help keep our

a: the prime minister of the ivory coast collapses in a cabinet meeting and is pronounced dead. ♪ barbara: hello. i am barbara serra. you are watching al jazeera, live from london. coronavirus numbers, looking for leadership. u.s. remains the the world leader in the pandemic. barbara: the united nations warning on the libyan confnflict of foreign interference has