♪ thank you for joining us. from our studio in tokyo, this is nhk "newsline." we begin here in japan where prime minister suga yoshihide has tasasked regululory reformrd

digitalization. >> translator: my cabinet is ready to serve the people. we will try to deliver tangible results and live up to their expectations. >> suga's cabinet started work on thursday, one day after the long-time chief cabinet secretary became japan's 99th prime minister. he met with new ministers who are in charge of key policies. administrative reform m ministe kono taro has launched a new web page to complain about government regulations. >> translator: i have already received about 7 emails. i'm afraid the suggestion box is about to explode. those messagess include specifi requests for regulatory reform, which i find reasonable. i'm convinced it's a worth while effofort. >> suga also met witith digigit transformation minister takuya. he said he's been instrucucted speeee up the process to createa

neww government agency in charg of digitalization. he said he plans to prepare relalated to bills to be sububmd to the diett session starting i january, aiming to set up the new agency before march 2022. meanwhile, u.s. president donald trump congratulated suga on twitter, saying he's got a great life story. trump added, he's looking forward to speaking with suga soon. the world's leading economies are calling for affordable and fair access to covid-19 treatments and vaccines for people in all countries. they say this is key to overcoming the pandemic. the finance and health chiefs of the g20 economies met by video conference. they discussed how to ensure all parties, including developing countries, get access to diagnostics, therapies and vaccines. japan has been leading some of

the discussions. finance minister aso taro expressed concerns that anti-coronavirus products could become too expensive for many because of the patents involved. >> translator: japan is proposing that a single pharmaceutical firm shouldn't acquire excecessive wealthth by monopolizing the market. the g20 members will continue exchchanging views on this. >> the meeting agenda also covered how to prepare for another possible spike in coronavirus cases globally. a university hospital in japan n says it will soon begin clinical trial f for anti-parase drug ivermectin as a possible treatment for covid-19. kitasato university hospital announced the plan on thursday. the university's distinguiuishe emeritus professor omura satatoi won a nobel prize for discovering a compound that led to the development of ivermectin. the hospital says the trial will involve 240 coronavirus patients 20 or older with mild to moderate symptoms.

they will be divided into two groups. one will be given ivermectin and the other will receive a placebo. the hospital plans to compare changes in their symptoms to assess the drug's efficacy and safety. the trial will continue through the end d of march. the e university research lab ss experiments using cells hahave shown ivermectin works in inhibiting the proliferation of the coronavirus. it says it will try to get approval for the drug as a treatment for covid-19. japan's health ministry will study possible glitches in its coronanavirus contact tracing a, amid an increasing number of user complaints. the ministry says the app, known as cocoa, had been downwnloaded. there were possible problems with the system since august.

many people say the app informs they had no contact with virus carries even after it had alerted them otherwise in push notifications. the ministry will soon start examining the complaints. it says it will update the app as soon as next month to allow smartphones to send log files on events in the software. it promises the data will be sent only with users' content and will contain no personal information. smartphones that have the software installed record encrypted data sent by other hand sets if they come within a one meter radius for 15 minutes or more. users who test positive for the coronavirus can unanimously notify others through the app that they have been in close contact. travel businesses in japan are starting to sell tour packages to and from tokyo under a government campaign to stimulate domestic tourism. major travell agencies such as

jtb and his plan to launch their packages at noon on friday. the go-to travel initiatives gives discounts on travel costs and offers coupons for use at touris tourists spots and souvenir shops. the campaign began in july but excluded trips to and from campaign due to coronavirus. the government announced it would include the capital in the promotion from october. a hotel in tokyo has been receiving an increasing number of inquiries since the government's decision. it's hoping for an increase in guests as it struggles to recover it's business. >> when compared to last year, the number of reservations shows we are still in a tough situation. but we hopope this campaign wil help boost demand. >> the government says it could still delay adding tokyo to the campaign if the coronavirus

alert level in the capital is raised. it says in such an event, cancellation fees for tour packages would be waived. china's government says cracking down on forced labor where it's accused of holding more than a million muslim uighurs in detention. the government released a white paper on employment and labor rights in the region on thursday. it says workers' rights are fully respected and that child labor is strictly prohibited. the paper also says vocational training helped local workers increase their incomes more than 8% annually over a five-year period. it also claims international forces are exaggerating forced labor issues. china has been widely criticized for allegedly detaining uighurs in the name of vocational training to carrrry out ideological education. the u.s. government announced on monday that it was banning imimports of some prododucts man

the province, including apparel and cotton. swedish clothing maker h & m now says it will sever ties with some chinese suppliers over accusations of forced labor by uighurs. shortly after the end of world war ii, an nhk reporter filed a report from hiroshima, the city devastated by an atomic bomb. the reporter's daughter recently found a tape recording of that broadcast. nhk world's tells whaus the forgotten tape revealed. >> reporter: this is an audio recording from an nhk radio broadcast 75 years ago. it talks about life in hiroshima four months after the atomic bomb was dropped.

the reporter who filed the story passed away 23 years ago. recent recently, his daughter found the recording while she was sorting through his belongings. this is her father. he went to hiroshima at the e e of 194945 to report on a city tt had been turned into a wasteland in a single atomic flash. the tape in question is a 6 millimeter tape. on the box, i it said the war orphphans report. >> translator: i really want to know what this report on war orphans contains. >> reporter: in july, she brought the tape to nhk, where the audio was successfully restored. on the tape, she heard her father's voice.

her father's report depicted the harsh reality on the streets of hiroshima, whi w was n homomeo more tnn 2,000 orpha. >> translator: my heart aches to learn aboutut these war orphans who had to beg on the street with empty cans. >> reporter: afterward, she visited h her father's grave. >> translator: my fatheher was hoping p pple wouldld never hav

to go through this again, having their lives devastated inn ann instant. i must heed my father's words so that his story about war orphans will never have to be reported. >> officiaials in hiroshima sas theirr archives havave few materials about the war orphans. this find may help fill an important gap in the historic record. nhk world. and now to world weather with our meteorologist yoko komagata. yoko, recovery efforts are underway in the u.s. gulf states after hurricane sally hit on wednesday. is there calmer weather coming soon? >> across many portions of the gulf states, but people may see more heavy rain and windy conditions as we go into thth

weekekend as the n next s stormm approaches. we have a disturbance over the gulf of memexico. that could become the next tropical storm by the weekend and may produce heavy rainfall along the gulf coast once again. the area had rainfall and storm surges from sally leading to major flooding. on thursday, people started cleaning up after hurricane sally hit the alabama coast. workers swept water from their stores and homes. about 500,000 homes and businesses were still without power on thursday. the next storm system will approach central gulf coast and linger along the coastline. rainfall will increase in some locations in places like eastern texas and southern coast of louisiana. additional rainfall may trigger further flooding. sally is still lashing the mid-atlantic coast bringing heavy rainfall. parts of virginia and north carolina may see up to 100

millimeters of rainfall and tornados are possible along with the storm system. on the western side of the country, people are dealing with widespread smoke from wild fires. there's a chance of showers over the weekend. this will likely improve some areas. at the same time, downpours could result in flash flooding around the recent burn scars. shadow of friday and new orleans may see a few showers as we go into the weekend. tropical storm noa is approaching the peninsula. it will move west across the indo-china peninsula over the weekend. rainfall could reach up to 200 millimeters in some areas, including southern coast of china. hong kong may see stormy conditions as we go into friday, and rainfall will increase as we go into the weekend. that's all for now. stay safe. ♪

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and that wraps up this edition of nhk "newsline." thank you for watching and hope you'll join us again. ♪ ♪ ♪ welcome to "newsline in depth." i'm yanaka marie. the shadow cast by the virus is long. immigration officials say there were no new tourists from overseas between april and august. travel within the country has

slumped too. when the government launched a subsidy campaign for domestic tourism, it even had to exclude tokyo as an infection hot spot. so, how can the industry get back on its feet? today we see how people at some top destinations are fighting to save their businesses. we start with chinatown in yokohama. the gourmet destination is about an hour from central tokyo and a big attraction domestically. out of 20 million annual visitors, most are from japan. however, after the first case of the coronavirus in japan was reported in january, visitors to chinatown plunged ahead of other tourist destinations. many people mistakenly associated the district with the outbreak in china. we went behind the scenes to see how the people of the neighborhood are responding. >> the heart of downtown

yokohama, japan's second most populous city, lies the country's biggest chinatown. it this is one of the most famous high end restaurants in the neighborhood, but the coronavirus has hit business hard. >> translator: we disinfect from 2:30 to 5:00 in the afternoon. >> reporter: this is the owner. his father took over after moving to japan from guangdong province. the restaurant was founded in 1892 and specializes in cantonese cuisine. it has long been a favorite hunt for the business elite who like to conduct negotiate yions over mouth-watering dinners. but since the start of the pandemic, sales have shrunk a

quarter of what they were at the same time lastt year. >> translator: i'm doing my best. i've borrowed from e bank to pay my staff 100%. this restaurant opened over 100 years ago. it can't go t of business unr my watch. >> reporter:r: when japan opene the port off yokohohama to foigners in 181859, chinatown quickly emerged as one of the fastest-growing neighborhoods in the city. the area has a painful history. it was completely destroyed twice. the first time by a massive earthquake and the second by american bombs during world war ii. still, chinatown has always managed to find it's feet. but the coronavirus could be the biggest challenge the neighborhood has ever faced. the economic pressures of the pandemic have already forced 17 businesses to close.

>> translator: this restaurant had new owners, but because of the coronavirus, they were unable to pay rent. they had to pack up and leave. this is just the beginning. more shops will go bankrupt. >> the virus has also led to a rise in anti-chinese sentiment. earlier this year, anonymous hate mail was sent to several businesses in the neighborhood. this woman was born right here in chinatown. her family has managed this restaurant for three generations. she's worried that the coronavirus could do irrepairable harm to her neighborhood. >> translator: several shops run by my friends received hate mail. i was very disappointed and sad to hear that. >> reporter: but despite these

challenges, she may have found a possible solution to some of chinatown's business problems. she has joined up with several restaurants in the neighborhood to start a drive through delivery service. they set up shop in the nearby parking lot and bring orders to customers in their cars. the first day of business got lots of media attention. >> translator: hello. sorry to cope ykeep you waiting. >> translator: i'm looking forward to eating this delicious chinese food at home. i used to visit chinatown from time to time. but this has become difficult during the pandemic. >> translator: please visit chinatown again. >> reporter: many people are rooting for the success of chinatown. that's the kind of things that keeps me going. when i hear messages like that, i want to keep trying my best.

>> reporter: the neighborhood is also getting business ideas from some of its newest residents. recent arrivals from china have popularised the use of apps back home. she arrived in japan as a student from hubei province. now, she's been in business on her own for eight years. in february, her sales fell by 70% due to the pandemic. then she started using the social media service wechat, and her fortunes turned. the app has helped her build an online customer base.

she even bought a smartphone for the restaurant so she can communicate with her patrons. just this afternoon, she received 13 orders on the app. >> translator: i'm already connected to more than 600 customers directly on wechat. and there are another 300 in groups have joined. i have to check all the time because orders are always coming in. thanks to the app, i'm no longer in the red. >> reporter: she says a unique delivery system has also helped her stay profitable. she sets minimum order amounts for each neighborhood. that way she always carries multiple orders on every trip, which helps save time and gas. >> translator: the number of orders i'm receiving already exceed my delivery capacity. but my staff is glad that we're

busy. no complaint at all. the coronavirus has got a lot of negative, but it's helped change in our mindset. >> reporter: but even as businesseses in the neieighborh innovate, chinatown draws strerength fromm tradition. every summer, residents gather to celebrate the birthday of the god of brotherhood and wealth. ♪ >> reporter: this year, the usual crowds are nowhere to be seen. the organizingg committee has decided too keepp the famous dae studio closed to the public. they pray for the health and good fortune of everyone in the neighborhood.

>> translator: let's hope we'll be blessed and help us get through this crisis together. >> reporter: afterwards a statue is taken on a tour of the neighborhood. people line up to e are receire blessings. the end of the pandemic is still not in sight, but the residents of chinatown are confident that by sticking together and with a little help, they can overcome any hardship. nhk world, yokohama. >> the people of historic chinatown are working to save their businesses and their community. the district has a rich culture that reflects both chinese traditions and japan's journey in opening up to the world. in our next story, we move to japan's northern most prefecture of hokkaido.

a famous on onsen hot spring town is reaching new clientele right at its doorstep. >> this is a hot spring resort on the outskirts of sapporo. this is one of its longest-established hotels. foreign tourists used to comprise 30% of its guests. but since the on set of the coronavirus pandemic, it has lost many of its japanese tourists too. >> translator: there's virtually no one outside on the street. eets it's a terrible situation. >> reporter: so, this hotel has changed tact. it's aiming to nearby city. >> translator: we have measures in place to prevent infections so you can stay with peace of mind. >> reporter: staff from the hotel are going door to door promoting new rates of just under 50 u.s. dollars per person for groups of four guests.

that's a discount of about 30%. from virtually 0 occupancy, it has rebounded to about 40% of capacityty on weekends. most of f the g guests are loca sapporo residents. >> translator: we are now looking to partner with other facilities in the area and create packages so our guests can visit local attractions too. >> reporter: meanwhile, another hotel in the area is already becoming popular among local people. the attraction heree is that guests can avoid all person-to-person contact from check-in to check out. >> translator: welcome. >> reporter: it opened in may, and now it's sometimes completely booooked at weekends. almost all the guests are from the city. meals are delivered through a special box including gourmet

dishes such as clay mott beef. it costs around $105 to $45 per night per person. the initial plan was to target visitors from abroad. now it's caught on among city people. >> translator: because it takes less than an hour to get here by car, it's convenient for people from sapporo. i hope guests will use our hotel as a hub to visit other tourist destinations. >> reporter: with little sign of foreign tourists returning soon, japan's hospitality industry has begun exploring new approaches to attract a local clientele. >> with travel restrictions and infection fears, it's unlikely we'll see tourism back to its pre-pandemic levels any time soon. but both places we visited today are trying new ways of doing business by faocusing on customers closer to home.

this providing refreshing get aways for locals with little coronavirus risk, and personally delivers delicious meals. despite the coronavirus, people in hospitality are finding opportunities to provide the same spark of joy we get

>> quarantine warnings, testing center problems, and more cities sesent into lockdown.n. the world health organizization says europe faces an alarming rate of new coronavirus claims wealthynd nations are stocking up on virus vaccines while china is using the virus to expand its global influence. jazeera liveing al from london. also coming up -- >> no electric,