♪ thank you for joining us. from our studio in tokyo, this is nhk "newsline". sources say tokyo prosecutors questioned former prime minister abe shinzo on a voluntary basis on monday over alleged political funding violations involving his support group. he's believed to have denied any involvement. one of abe's secretaries is said to be under investigation. the man also heads the support group. he's suspected of violating the political funds conol law by failing to report revenue and spending related to parties thrown for abe's supporters at

tokyo wyo hotels. abe's side is believed to have covered some of the costs of the annual parties, but the support group did not mention paying for them in its political fund report. the parties took place on the eve of government-funded cherry blossom viewing events while abe was in office. more than $190,000 was spent on the parties in the five years in 2019. abe's side is thought to have paid at least $77,000 of that. abe has repeatedly told the diet that all the expenses were covered by the participants. sources in abe's inner circle said his staff put the former prime minister in a position of stating something contrary to the facts. prosecutors are believed to have asked abe whether he knew about the reports and other details. they're expected to bring a summary indictment against the secretary by around the end of the year.

>> translator: he should raply address the diet and explain to the people, not make excuses, such as, didn't know because my secretary lied to me." he made false statements in the diet, so, naturally, he should explain himself in the diet. >> the former prime minister suggested on friday that he would personally provide an explanation to the diet after investigators have reached a conclusion. nhk has been following the case, and here's theage lis he gave our domestic service with english interpretation. >> translator: what was the main thing prosecutors wanted to ask abe about? >> the first point is whether abe was aware that his support group had failed to report in the financial reports. prosecutors are believed to have

questioned him about when he learned about his secretary's failure to report it. >> translator: is there any possibility that abe himself ll be held criminally responsible? >> translator: i think there are high hurdles for investigators to bring charges against abe. the law requires political organizations to report all income and expenditures in their financial reports when they hold events. they have to report the transactions. politicians can only be held criminally responsible if there's evidence they conspired, such as giving specific instructions not to report something. sources in abe's inner circle say that late last year, he asked his secretary whether there had been any expenditure by his office related to the parties. they say one of abe's staff lied to him, saying there was no spending other than the 5,000 yen paid by each participant.

abe himself is believed to have denied any involvement when questioned. prosecutors appear to think it would be difficult to lay a criminal charge against abe. a japanese lawmaker and merfo agriculture minister has scandal involving politicians a and the poultry industry. sources say a former head of an egg production company in hiroshima prefecture has told prosecutors he gave about $48,000 in cash to takamori while he served as cabinet minister. the former minister cited health reasons for his resignation. yoshika held theost from october of 2018 until september of last year. the tokyo metropolitan government reported 563 new coronavirus cases in the

japanese capital on tuesday. it's the first time that the daily total has exceeded 500 cases for a tuesday, when comparatively smaller numbers have been reported up until now. that's because many clinics are closed on the weekend. the total number of cases in tokyo since the start of the pandemic now starts at 52,382. japan's labor ministry says nearly 80,000 people across the country lost their jobs or had been given notice because of the coronavirus pandemic. the ministry has been checking cases of workers who have been laid off or not had contracts renewed becseau of the deteriorating business performance. officials believe the actual figure is probably higher because they only counted cases known to regional labor bureaus and public job placement centers. data as of last friday showed that the manufacturing sector

was the hardest hit, accounting for 20% of job losses. it was followed by pubs and restaurant restaurants, the retail sector, hotel employees, and temp agency workers. the highest proportion of reduck dan redundancies was tokyo and osaka. more than 37,000 out of the total were part-time or contract workers who lost their jobs or were given notice between may 25th and last friday alone. ministry oicffials are urging businesses to keep employees on their payroll through the use of government subsidy programs. they are also providing support to help the unemployed find new jobs. turning to the united states, health workers have started inoculating people with the second covid-19 vaccine to receive authorization. batches of the moderna vaccine arrived at a hospital in new york on monday.

nurse aline ramirez was one of the first to get the jab. her father died from the coronavirus, and she also suffered from the disease. ramirez said the new vaccine represents hope. meanwhile u.s. president-elect joe biden was given his first dose of the other vaccine, developed by pfizer and its german partner biontech. he was shown on live tv getting the shot. >> it's worth saying that this is great hope. i'm doing this to demonstrate that people should be prepared when it's available to take the vaccine. there's nothing to worry about. >> u.s. health authorities are aiming to inoculate 20 million people this month. now, the european union has approved the vaccine developed by pfizer and biontech. it's the first covid-19 vaccine to be given the green light in the eu. the vaccine is already being administered in britain and the

united states. european commission says inoculationsgi will ben across the bloc sometime between sunday and next tuesday. >> this vaccine will be available for all eu countries at the same time, on the same conditions. >> the eu's drug regulator issued conditional marketing authorization earlier on monday saying the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks. world health organization officials say they'll add the pfizer biontech vaccine to its emergency use list as soon as the end of the year. w.h.o. assistant director general said at a briefing in geneva that the vaccine will also be distributed under its covax program, a global framework to provide vaccines to poor and middle income countries. concerns about the spread of a new variant of the coronavirus are causing major disruption in the united kingdom, as other countries close their borders.

france banned entry from the uk via the strait of dover from monday. a sign at the entrance to britain's dover port said the border with frce was closed. many trucks and other vehicles were stranded. in london, long lines formed inside supermarkets. there are concerns that traffic disruption may lead to shortages of daily necessities. >> the shelves are pretty empty in the christmas goods area. so, i guess more people are shopping here because all the other shops are shot now. >> prime minister boris johnson tried to reassure people worried about supplies. >> the vast majority of food, medicines and other supplies are coming and going as normal. >> johnson revealed he discussed ways to resolve the border issue in ane pho call with french

president emmanuel macron. he said everything was being done to end the ban briontish vehicles enterg frinance. officials in britain said the new variant transmits more easily than the previous one. but w.h.o. director general said on monday there is no evidence that it's more likely to cause severe disease or mortality. the same variant has also been confirmed in australia, italy, iceland, the netherlands and denmark. south korea says it will close ski resorts and other tourist attractions during the upcoming holidays as it grapples wi ath surge in coronavirus cases. >> translator: special measures will be in place from thursday to january 3rd to block the spread of the virus. >> the prime minister said 179 ski resorts, skating venues, and other facilities will shut, including national parks and popular locations from which to view the first sunrise of the

year. he also announced a nationwide ban from thursday on private gatherings of five or more people. the move extends measures set to take effect wednesday from seoul. the cases have rebounded to a record high there are cluster infections, including at railway stations and nursing homes. a prison reported nearly 200 infections among inmates and staff. the former president is now serving a sentence at the prison after being convicted of corruption. surging demand for online

video services during the ndempaic is luring investments from major japanese trading firms. they're tang a stake of more th 50% in e japanes affiate ofetwork veo taste me. thfoodnd tral-relate ogrammerttracts 5 billio vis a moh worldwe. meanwhile, the corporation has been funding the video producer alpha boat. the joint venture streams live concerts and product promotion videos and has seen business boom during the pandemic. timatethe adrtising rket forideo conte wl mor tha double by 2024 compared with last year. now, a seasonal story from japan. as the days grow colder, people are helping animals keep warm.

a pool filled with fruit. this is a winter solstice event in japan, but usually enjoyed by humans. at the zoo, keepers have been given this bath for the lucky rodent, helping him cope with the cold weather, as a species native to south america. at a zoo in aichi efprecture, monkeys have been seeking warmth from bonfires. they're normally afraid of fire, but they're willing to make an exception when the weather turns chilly. >> translator: the monkeys seem really happy. >> the japan monkey center stages the event every year. it began nearly 60 years ago when zoo keepers made a bon fire for themselves. now a check on the world weather forecast for the next few days.

♪ ♪ ♪ that's all for this edition of nhk "newsline." thank you for watching and hope you'll join us again.

hi, i am shaula vogue, welcome to a special edition of "biz stream." joseph kraft, it is od tgoo see you. >> good to see you. let's take a look at today's featured report. life during the pandemic led to new needs when it comes to goods consumers buy and services they use. for example, being able to know how crowded shops or restaurants are before choosing where to go.

for others it may mean having safer eating options like outdoor barbecue restaurants. today's report gives you a glimpse of how businesses are offering customers peace of mind as they venture out the new normal. >> reporter: if you take a look at the graph here, you will see the monthly sales compares to the same month of the previous year. as you can see starting in april, figures fell 40% compares to 2019. things are slowly starting to improve. if you look at the data, you see some recovery in the months leading to october. if you look at the break down, you will see that restaurants are rebounding and fast food is doing better than the year before at 1.8%. japanese pubs and bars are still

down significantly at minus 36.3% and minus 20.4%. what do you make of these numbers? >> these restaurants have been supported by the government go-to campaign. people have been using incentives. what's going to happen when these incentives run out. we have to be concerned for the longer term. >> once you get used to it, you want something to motivate you to go out. next the service that's using i.t. tech when using peace of mind when dining out. >> reporter: tokyo sees over 1 million commuters daily. 150 shops and restaurants spread out over to 10,000 square meters in retail space. making it a popular destination for local commuters and travelers. located at 10 separate locations throughout the expansive complex of shops and restaurants are these new boards.

it lets customers know of social distancing or how crowded or empty each restaurants is. this cafe and bakery is known for fresh bread and pastries, seats up to 800 customers a day. when we look around 12:00 p.m., the restaurant was starting to fill up with customers and its status was displayed at medium. as more customers entered, the status changed to crowded and as later as many of those people filtered out, it dropped all the way down to low. the system analyzes video sent from multiple cameras set up in participating shops to keep the display information as accurate as possible. the same information can also be accessed by a smartphone so visitors can get an idea of how crowded their shops are before they arrive.

>> translator: i hate walking into the restaurant only to find out it is way too crowded so this makes it less stressful. >> it would be convenient if this was more widespread. management sees the system as we use a way to distribute it out throughout t shop. >> we want as many customers as possible but we also want to kema sure they feel safe. >> reporter: a popular local tourist attraction implemented this system in a larger area. about 60 kilometers south of the capital, the island sits off the pacific coast. to keep foot traffic moving smoothly, a digital map set up providing visitors with a similar ranking system. this version includes the main

shopping street and walking paths and sightseeing spots. the analysts are left up to the humans eyes. this allows the system up and running much faster. >> with the pandemic still ongoing, many clients want to go as soon as possible. by eliminating the need of camera network, it can be installed quickly than our a.i. based system. >> the monitoring and analytics version are left to local shop owner and their staff. they simply keep an eye on visitors who are in the area and update the level of crowdness with the push of a button. >> well, normally we pray for loads of customers to be coming everyday, that's not the case

anymore. sadly it is much more complicated than that now. >> you know japan really is a unique situation. we never had a full on lockdown so people are still going out and a lot of places are still crowded. in the video we saw two different systems, the one where the owner presses the button, i don't know about that. the ai system that's being used prepandemic, this was to avoid over crowding within the stations. this is really coming into play now. what did you think of the video? >> these systems are used

definitely. it is also reactive to the crowd flow. i thk inrestaurants can be proactive, for example, by changing pricing to time. j.r. is charging at different prices at different times. that can influence the flow. restaurants can think about how to incentivize customers coming at different times. >> i know before the pandemic, it was the olympics. >> exactly. people drive on different times. you can apply, you can affect behavior so i think it is a big issue. >> and the ai system we saw, they're alrey eicladient they h taipei and they introduced their system in mainland china. instead of using it restaurants, they are using it one of shanghai's largest buildings to avoid overly crowded systems. >> that's interesting.

most important. >> with travel restrictions still in place, many are looking a safe place to enjoy local leisure. >> this restaurant is located at tokyo bay. in the middle of the pandemic, this location is mostly booked from july through august. beyond offering the ocean breeze, a reason to switch to regular table and chairs, offer customers even more peace of mind. compare to the previous lay out, not only there is more space and the distance between other tables have increased significantly. >> it is great because it does not feel like we are social distancing. >> this place is pretty fancy

but super laid back. >> reporter: offering 1,000 seats, the management changetod new lay out and forcing them to lower capacity by 20%. they compensated for this drastic cut by increasing the entrance fee from $15 to just $20. >> we shutdown in april when it was declared and in just two months, we lost nearly $10 million in sales. but ever since we reopened in june, we have been fully booked. >> reporter: in total, the company owns around 50 similar barbecue restaurants around the country. it is currently working on witchi allng of its locationo t

similar sofa style seating arrangements. in addition, they recently got into the hotelus biness. despite opening in july as infection rates were climbing, their new hotels have been extremely popular and most units are already booked through the first week of 2021. by turning a series of mobile homes into beach bungalows, customers can enjoy an exotic escape while avoiding contact with other guests.

each unit terrace is equipped riwith a pvate hot tub, a barbecue grill and outdoors seating. the goal offering all inclusive stacation. >> my friends and i were wondering if we can get out and avoid crowds and we found this mace. >> reporter: the company continues to look for more ways to offer the atmosphere giving customers the thofom during the new normal. >> it is getting a little chilly here but barbecue outdoors what did you think of the concept?

>> i like the concept. the government also recommends the three seats. one of that is to avoid close spacing, ventilations. this kind of outdoor dining gives you ventilation. the her thing people are more interested in is spending a little bit more for the normal things you have done and feeling a little richer. a lot of younger people will continue to efprer outside dining when the weather is nice so for both safety and atmosphere perspective. >> i know when i go out, i try to sit outdoor when ever i can. >> i wonder is it a difference here in the way people are practicing social distancing? >> one important thing is the government recommending three seats, they're not saying all or nothing social distancing and people try to compensate where they can. ventilation is a key part of that. if you can't avoid the distance, have ventilation. >> what did you think of the stacation that we saw? >> they have a ground keeper that takes care of all the grounds. >> from a business standpoint, it think it makes great sense. businesses can avoid fixed costs and they can work with public spaces and leverage that and the public side can have their spaces used effectively. it is a win-win situation. >> once trels avdoes resume, we'll see permanent changes. >> exactly, businesses will have to figure out how to adapt to those challenge and incentivize to connutie to consume.

>> that's it for today. i am shaula vogue, this is "biz stream," we'll see you next

here stay distant due to coronavirus. ♪ >> these are the top stories. more than 40 countries have closed their borders to flights and travelers from the u.k. due to concerns over a mutated strain of coronavirus. the british government says it is working to ensure that freight including food supplies will not be affected. eu member states preparing to roll out the pfizer-biontech vaccine after it was given the green light by regulators. france, italy, and germany say they will begin max fascinations by sunday.