♪ helello w welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm yamamoto miki in tokyo. u.s. president president donald trump says he paid many millions of dollars in taxes hitting back at the "new york times" report on his tax records. the times reported trump paid no federal income tax at all in 10 of the 15 years before he became president largely because he reported losing much more money than he made. the paper said he paid $750 in

income taxes in 2016 and 2017 trump on monday tweeted that the fake news media is bringing up taxes and all sorts of other nonsense with illegally obtained information and only bad intent. he claims he paid many millions of dollars in taxes but was entitled like everyone else to depreciation and tax biden's campaign posted a video claiming elementary school teachers and firefighterss paid more income tax than trump did. trump's tax records could become one of the leading issues of the election. in the previous race four years ago trump's appeal to blue collar workers was considered a factor behind his victory. the coronavirus pandemic is nearing a staggering milestone,

1 million lives lost. sincnce first cononfirmed in ch in j january thehe virirus has overer 999,000 deathths across globe. in recent weeks around 5,000 deaths were reported every day. the united states has the world's biggest outbreak with more than 205,000 lives lost. inin brazil, cases began mounti early this summer with deaths now about 141,000. more recently, india has reported a surge in cases with fatalities reaching over 95,000. south korean prosecutors have decided not to indict the justice minister over allegations she pressured the military to give her son special treatment. charges against chu and her son were dropped on monday. they stem from clalaims by a mar opposition party that the justice minister asked the military to grantnt her son extended leave from mandatory

military service in 2017. at the time, choo was the chair of the ruling democratic party. prosecutors concluded her son's leave was granted appropriately and that it is hard to believe there was external pressure. her predecessor was also accused of securing preferential treatment. last october the former justice minister resigned amid allegations that his children had help getting into prestigious schools. top leaders from china's communist party will meet next month to chart an economic blueprint for the next five years. more than 300 officials will attend, including president xi jinping. state media reports the central committee's fifth plenary session will take place between october 26th and 29th in beijing. long term goals t that extend t

2035 are also expected to be on the agenda. in 2015 china stated theyy wantd to be a global technology leader but tensions with the u.s. have resulted in fierce competition including securing contracts to develop other countries '5g network. japan's chief cabinet secretary kato katsunobu says the government is watching the human rights treatment of the uighurs a minority in china with concern. beijing is facing accusations from the international community it is unjustly detaining uighurs. >> translator: we believe it is important for universal values such as freedom, human rights, and the rule of law to be respected in the international community including china. >> last week the chinese president xi jinping indndicate at a m meeting to discuss polics that beijing will continue to

exercise ideological and religious control in the region. china's foreign minister is expected to visit japan as early as next month to hold talks w wh his japanese counterpart. kato said japan will convey its position on the issue to beijing. japanese telecom giant nippon telegraph and telephone plans to launch a takeover bid worth about $38 billion to acquire a 100% stake in its wireless subsidiary ntt docomo. ntt currently owns about 66% of the mobile carrier which is the most profitable part of the ntt group. sources say ntt has decided to take full control of docomo by acquiring the roughly 34% of out standing stock in the company. ntt hopes to gain more profit from the wireless carrier which has the most subscribers in

japan. there is also an offer of corporatate telecommunications services. ntt aims to boost its competitiveness in the fields of 5g and other next generation communication. the move comes as japan's new prime minister says he wants to see lower mobile phone rates in the country. like many businesses, the food service industry is looking for ways to cope with the covid-19 pandemic and cutting costs to the bone may be essential. but cooks are finding they don't need to pay f for a place they only use part of the >> reporter: the food is still sizzling when it makes its way from the kitchen to the customer. no time to waste. the restaurant is renting the space by the hour.

at 7:00 in the morning an hour before opening, an employee sets out some decorations. then it's down to business. from 8:00 to 4:00. the restaurant rents the space just for that period on week days. as a result, it only pays about one-third of the conventional lease. use of the refrigerator and table ware is included. after closing time, the staff quickly cleans everything up. in the evening another business comes in. he had been dreaming about opening his own restaurant for years. start up costs, though, were holding him back. renting by the hour allowed him to stop dreaming and start cooking. >> translator: i didn't know i could rent a restaurant in this way. discovering that was a turning

popoint. >> r reporter: with the rent so low, he has been able to keep his business going even during the pandemic. >> translator: although i'm renting by the hour i feel this is my establishment and my space. >> reporter: the arrangement came about because the land owner wasn't getting much benefit from the property as it was. so a kitchen was installed and the space was offered for lease on an hourly basis. >> splitting the cost with others keeps renters with the advantage of s starting a busins without having to pay very much. >> reporter: the leasing company is now refurbishing another space with just a kitchen -- no indoor seating. it expects the growth of takeout and delivery services operating on even tighter budgets.

a father and son came to look it over. they plan to start a benito delivery service. keep the initial costs down, they want to rent the facility just a few days a week. >> we didn't thinknk moving forward witith our idea was feasible until we learned about this hourly rental space. >> reporter: it is a model made to order for businesses just to get started and those trying to hang on. japan's chihief cabinet secretary has said people facing problems in their daily lives should be encouraged to seek help. his remarks came after the apparent suicide of an actor whose family found her motionless at home on sunday. she was later pronounced dead at the hospital. police suspect she took her own life. >> translator: celebrity suicides and their coverage by the media can have ann enormous

impact, in some cases they c cod cause or lead to other people ending their lives. >> the entertainers' rights asassociation posted a statemen on its website on sunday and said performers are often exposed to very stresessful environments. it asked the government to investigate and called for a systematic program of menl health care. kato said various support programs exist. he said the government is making them known to people facing mental health problems as well as their families and friends. ♪

let's check out the world weather with our meteorologist. people in the western united states are still dealing with massive wild fires. so more rain is what they need most but can we ek petke that to happen any time soon? >> unfortunately, no rainfall is expected across a large portion of the western u.s. throughout the week. well above average temperatures will appear perched in the area and may trigger new wild fires. a high pressure system will keep things dry and hot in california and the rocky mountains. historic drought conditions have related to ongoing fires. >> hundreds of homes were forced to evacuate after wild d fires

started in northern california. firefighters battled the flames on sunday and monday in the wine growing region. while the fires in california have burned about 1.5 million hectares and destroyed over 7,000 structures. people in the north and southern parts of california will continue to deal with fire risks on tuesday. santana winds could make conditions worse. and extreme hot temperatures are expected in the southwest. the high could reach the upper 30s in l.a. over the next couple days. smoke from the fires can cause unhealthy conditions. in europe, a couple low pressure systems will continue to produce severere thunderststorms in ita anand the balkans with parts of the alpine region seeing gusts of over 140 kilometers per hour. conditions will shift east into turkey as we go into tuesday. some of the severe thunderstorms could produce sudden bursts of

showers, large hail, and strong gusts. meanwhile, sunny conditions are expected in the western europe for the next couple of days but a low pressure system will produce wet weather as we go into the weekend. as it does so, cold air will spread across the uk all the way down to spain. you'll enjoy sunny and mild temperatures in madrid on tuesday and wednesday but it will rain on friday with much cooler can temperatures. that's all for now. stay safe.

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of nhk "newsline." thank you for joining us on nhk world japan. xxxx ♪ welcome to newsline in depth. it's been 75 years since the end of world war ii. with the passing of time the suffering of ordinary civilians and actions of those who let them is increasingly at risk of being forgotten. the people in our stories today are working to preserve that history and hopes for peace. some 2.4 million japanese died on foreign soil in world war ii.

the remains of around half of them never made it home, leaving their relatives unable to properly mourn. a woman and her husband in the u.s. have been working to bring closure for such families. the granddaughter after japanese soldier who lost his life in the war is gathering relics brought home by american soldiers and returning them to japan. >> envelopes arrived one after the other from all over the united states and beyond. inside are heirlooms kept by american families over the decades. each one representing a life cut shshort. they arere japanese fgs taken from the battle fieields off wo war ii. a nonprofit group has been returning them to japan all these years later. they've been receiving more lately as people stuck at home in the pandemic go through old

boxes. u.s. troops often took japanese soldiers' belongings as badges of victory. the most common were flags. they are inscribed with well wishes from friends and family. the soldiers carried them as amulets until their last moments. she founded the group with her husband after receiving the flag of her grandfather who went missing in burma now called myanmar. his remains were never returned. she said getting the flag back 52 years later felt as if his soul had finally come home. >> we thought wee wananted to m more miracles to another family in japan. >> reporter: and that is what they're doing as more peoplee come forwawa w with relelics pa down frorom a relative. >> my father came h he fromm tht

war. he was never the same.e. hehe came home fromm that war a this guy's dad didn't. >> my gosh. theyound a relativ ey'll b able to return the flag >> his sp f fathe gave him a blood sined flag in 1963. didn'tnow h to g it to the soldier's family until he heard about the group. lee says he wanted to teach his grandchildren a lesson about the realities off war. >> it's history but we don't repeat it. and i'm not talking about our twoo couountries. i'm talkingng the worldld as a whole. >> reporter: the organization found out the flag belonged to this man who died fighting in the philippines when he was 22. his niece received it in julyy t aa ceremony in the northern

japanese city. the family never got any of his remains. >> translator: this is the only treasure we have from him. i can't think of this as anything but a miracle. we can't change this sad history, but we should remember this piece is based on the sacrifices of generations that came before us. we should live with that knowledge in our hearts. >> reporter: the society has returned about 370 flags so far. but t they wantt to bring back more. one for every day of thehe year. >> t there can be peace a amererica and japan enjoy peace and other people in other parts of the world couould do the sa. >> i want the peoplee to feel i nott just only to see it. and t they inspire t the people

fefeel about peace and frienend and reconciliation. >> reporter: the ziaks are showing strangers in different parts of the world can help bring each other closure and they use these symbols of war to weave bonds of peace. >> the ziaks now keep 1100 flags and as the number increases so does the challenge of returning them. not all the families were familiar with the deceased but they say their goal is to return every flag so the families can reflect on all who lost their lives in the war. the name obon society comes from the japanese annual ritual, welcoming back the spirits of the ancestors. the ziaks hope the flags will provide a similar, peaceful home coming. in the final stages of world war ii, the now defunct imperial japanese military fought a fierce land battle against u.s. forces on the southern island of

okinawa. over 20000,000 people on both sides lost their lives. the death toll included over 90,000 okinawan civilia p pulle ininto the conflict. in our next story we meet the grandson of the japanese commander who is thought to have issued the orders that led to so many deaths. he has been working to uncover more of the war's history in an effort to make sure lessons won't be lost. >> reporter: this is a retired tokyo school teacher, but his life's work lieies far from the classroom. for nearly 30 years, he has been trying to learn everything he can about the battle of okinawa. one site he keeps coming back to is the former headquarters of

the 32nd army. the complex of tunnels lies 30 meters below the castle in the city of naha. about 1,000 military personnel and conscripted civilians were stationed here. trying desperately to stop the advancing u.s. forces. the man in charge was his grandfather, who took his own life before the fighting stopped. today he is remembered as a military leader who sacrificed many civilians. that legacy has had a profound impact on his grandson. he avoided visiting the area for a long time but his first trip to okinawa in 1994 changed his life. >> translalator: i told one loc i was actually the commander's grandson and he was verery surprprised. he toldde why don't you l look

into youour grandfatheher's lif yoyourselflf? i'i'll help you. >> reporter: that encounter started him down a new path. he began visiting the island and interviewing people who survived the bloodshed. including this woman, who was drafted in her teens to work as a military nurse. she met the general on the battle field and had surprising things to say about him. >> translator: i was impressed. i thought he was very kind. >> reporr: heeould not understa theap beten his grgrandfher'r'senentle deanor andorrific decisions he made. as american troops intensified their offensive, the general ordered his sdiers t abando sohern part of the island to the where he refused to surrender. many civilians had already been totold to evacuate there. tens of thousands of t the died.

>> translator: he knew what the result of withdrawing to the south would be. i just can't understand why he made that order. if he was a good or honorable commander he wououldn't have. > reporter:r: efforts to pree thee subterraneann headqdquarte have gained momentum since the castle caught fire last fall. plans are now under way to rebuild. that could include restoration work on the hidden facility below, which he fully supports. >> translalator: the headquarte is the placece where we can sho people what the war in okinawa was like. and why so many civilians died. >> reporter: work on the underground complex could require millions of dollars. but he believes the awful truth

it holds about his grandfather and the impact of war on innocent civilians needs to be passed down to future generations at any cost. nhk world. >> he has given talks about his grandfather and the battle of okinawa at schools across the country in hopes of inspiring younger generations to act for world peace. he is responding to requests to speak all over japan and has proved his activities -- moved his activities online during the covid-19 pandemic. in our final story, we meet a survivor of the atomic bombing of nagasaki who runs a unique photography project focusing on that specific moment in time and what the horrors of war can take from us.

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>> that's all for today's "newsline in depth." thank you for watching and see you again next time.

>> coronavirus is on the verge of claiming the one millionth life nearly nine months to the day after it was first reported. this is al jazeera live from london. also coming up, fighting between armenia and azerbaijan intensifies. casualties are reported in the battle over nagorno-karabakh. trump on the defensive over his taxes. do democrats have a nbewew line of attack? >> we have seen no sanctions, no pressure. >>