♪ welcome to nhk "newsline." welcome from tokyo. >> ukrainian president zelenskyy condemned the move and he ward mosc will bury the chances the

negotiations. he said russian leaders were using the same things in 2014. the governor dismissed the referendum as nothing but sham. >> translator: russian authorities bused in a lot of people. they waved russian flags and said they were local residents who were waiting for russi forces to arrive. >> the referendums are scheduled to continue until tuesday. ronald reagan arrived in south korea ahead of joint military drills scheduled between the countries. the nuclear-powered vessel's port stop comes amid international concerns about the possibility that north korea may stage its seventh nuclear test. >> i think the -- what the commitment of u.s. carrier strike group operating in and

around the peninsula illustrates is our commitment to stand together and our desire and our focus on ensuring that we are interoperable and integrated to face any challenge or any threat whenever required. >> the joint drills will involve nuclear-powered u.s. aircraft carrier docking at a south korean port for the first time in about five years. observers say the show of unity between the u.s. and south korean militaries may be aimed at putting pressure on north korea. but it could also draw a strong reaction from pyongyang. the foreign ministers of japan, u.s., and south korea sat down for talks thursday on the sideline of the u.n. general assembly. anthony blinken expressed serious concerns about north korean's nuclear and missile development. the three reaffirmed commitment to strong cooperation and

enhancing deturns through the alliance and the sichlt huu.s.- korean alliance. the ministers also condemned russia's aggression in ukraine d expressed unwavering support for ukraine's sovereignty and territorial territorial integrity. the three affirmed commitment to supporting the ni supporting needs and priorities of the partners and strengthening the rules based economic order. that was a veiled reference to china. beijing has been stepping up activities and economic coercion in recent years. blinken met with the foreign ministers of britain, australia and new zealand to coordinate support for pacific island countries. here again, it was china's ambitions provided the impetus.

representatives from fiji and other island nations joined the meeting. he said japan plans to support them in battling climate change among other issues. >> translator: japan will str strengthen by supporting their efforts under common principles such as sovereignty, tran transparency and accountability. >> the competition for influence in the pacific stepped up a gear in april when beijing signed a security agreement with the solomon islands. in other news, the u.s. government imposed sanctions on several iranian officials of a woman detained for the improper wearing of her head scarf, or hijab. 22-year-old mahsa amini died last friday after she was taken into custody in tehran by police. her death sparked protests

across iran. iran's state-run television reported 17 people have died in clashes with security forces. the demonstrations are continuing. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken leased a statement. it says the united states has sanctioned seven police and security officials for alleged human rights abuses. the penalties include freezing of assets. blinken said the iranian government needs to end its systematic persecution of women and allow peaceful protest. he said washington will continue to hold those who violate human rights accountable. iranian president ebrahim raisi said on thursday that he has ordered an investigation into the case. he also warned those who have taken to the streets, saying there is freedom of expression in iran, but that acts of chaos are unacceptable. japanese prime minister kishida fumio has made a pitch to the international business

community. he's told them that japan is a smart place to put their money. >> japan's economy will continue to show strong growth. you can invest in japan with confidence. >> kishida gave a speech at the new york stock exchange on thursday. he advocated an economic policy dubbed "a new form of capitalism." it's designed to promote growth and sustainability by harnessing the creative energy of the private sector and responding to various risks such as climate change. the prime minister cited investment and human resources as one of his priorities and

discussed a plan to rejuvenate the labor market. kishida said the plan involves bringing about a performance-based pay scale rather than the traditional seniority-based system that guarantees lifetime employment. kishida reiterated his desire to encourage people to invest their financial assets instead of parking them in savings. he floated the idea of offering permanent tax exemptions for individual investors. he stressed the importance of taking up supply side investment under international coordination at next year's g7 summit in hiroshima. japan's government and central bank stepped into the currency market on thursday to sell dollars and buy yen for the first time in 24 years. but the bigger issue is whether such intervention can keep the yen from falling further over the longer term. the operation came after the japanese currency briefly tumbled in tokyo trading, with the greenback climbing to the upper 145-yen range. the yen temporarily recovered after the intervention. the dollar fell by more than 5 yen to the lower 140 range. a senior finance ministry official told reporters he wouldn't say what tools the authorities have to support the yen, but he said they will act again if necessary. this comes as the bank of japan

is set to maintain its massive monetary easing policy. that's in contrast to the recent interest rate hikes by the u.s. federal reserve. boj governor kuroda haruiko told reporters the bank won't raise rates for the time being. that means investors will likely keep selling yen and buying dollars, expecting the rate gap between the u.s. and japan to keep on widening. next, japanese high school students have clubs and activities to choose from, judo, sock, even calligraphy. but as we'll see in the next report, members of one team have made a name for themselves by becoming masters of the keyboard. . >> in july, this high school in japan won the fourth successive championship in the national word processing competition group division. the competition tests speed and

accuracy. typing 700 characters in ten minutes is considered outstanding, the team's members can type around 2,000 without making mistakes. teams of three compete to type as many character as they can in ten minutes. accuracy is crucial. for each error, ten characters are deducted from the score. the driving force behind the team's success is their coach, a business teacher at the school. and under his direction, students who rarely touched a keyboard before high school are the best typists in japan. there are two input modes for typing japanese. they assign characters to specific keys. he prefers the input because it is faster. but it is also more difficult as it requires a greater range of keys than the unput, the latter

only uses the 26 letters of the english alphabet. the secret to success is the team's training method to master the input. >> i'm certain we're the hardest working team i japan focusing on basic fundamental training. >> the screen is filled with the characters. the team members work on basic exercises using only certain keyboard rows so the fingers move to the correct keys. the meth sod time consuming but motivates the team by patiently explaining the purpose and improving the effectiveness through results. >> translator: it's a game in which the results are reflected in the numbers. the students make good efforts and keep at it without giving up. they'll always improve. >> reporter: in addition, he

gives teams assignments. the students practice typing without looking at their screens. the goal is to make them realize they can type better than they thought and give them confidence. >> translator: you don't achieve success in a single day. you must work hard on a daily basis. so far we're getting good results. and i hope the students will graduate with a sense of accomplishment. >> the students are already training hard to win their fifth consecutive title. all right. now to the weather. a tropical storm is getting closer to japan bringing torrential rain. the bullet trains have been partially suspended. our meteorologist joins us now

with the latest. what are the possible impacts of the storm? >> you see the center is where the development is. it's approaching the country and it is the ninth named storm to affect the country so far this season. it has been bringing a lot of heavy rainfall, even record breaking rainfall has been recorded in parts of the country. 211 millimeters in the space of just 12 hours in parts of the prefecture. so that is 40% of the monthly rainfall for september. and rain is now shift together east. this is the forecasted track. right now it's located nearly 150 kilometers to the south of the key peninsula. it will likely approach the country and could make land fall

and move parallel into saturday and then the low pressure it will likely reach to the east of the region. now this storm has a lot of clouds. so the north of this storm, so before the arrival of the storm, you'll see stormy conditions. and for tokyo, it could approach the tokyo area on saturday night. however, the peak of the stormy conditions will be tonight. this is a minimal tropical storm bringing a lot of heavy rainfall because it has a lot of moisture in it. an additional 250 millimeters rain is likely in the region which is not great. flooding and the region may see additional 150 millimeters. be careful of the flooding. now it's going to be rainy at least into saturday afternoon in the tokyo area. but after that, it's going to be drier. and sunny skies will prevail into the next week and they could see rainy weather continues saturday because of a

tropical -- a tropical system. that's it for me. stay safe. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

and that concludes this edition of nhk "newsline". there is much more to come on nhk world japan. so please stay with us. >> welcome to a special edition of "in den am." we're here for memorial day. a time to mourn those who died in world war

they captures a quarter of the vai population. museums like this one. it tells the story of okinawa students forced to be nurses. first hand accounts describe caring for patients under constant threat of attack. but now the fewer people able to tell their own stories, the museum has to

way spoke with the museum's director to find out more. >> the younger generation was born long after the we increased the number of pictures and photos and paintings. what is important is that people see this exhibition and think of it as describing an experience that could have happened to them. >> visiting the museum a step in

the right direction to grasp the gravity of war. and now i'd like you to meet a young woman who has taken it upon herself to teach about the battles. in this role play students are putting themselves in the shoes of residents of wartime okinawa and trying to stay alive. its a new program developed by peace studies facilitator -- she was born in 1997 in the city which is still home to a u.s. air base. she said she struggled during peace study classes at school. in recent decades peace education has taken root.

survivors of the war have shared their experiences in the form of lectures at schools and museums, but for younger generations this era of okinawa's history feels increasingly remote. >> i had a lot of opportunities to hear from people who had experienced the war first-hand, but i couldn't absorb it properly at the time. >> after graduating from high school she worked as a tour guide for student field trips. it was the first time she'd encountered an approach to peace

studies that involved group discussions. >> my experience of peace studies until then had been rather passive. being able to share your own opinion and listening to your friend's opinions felt very refreshing. >> nitsuki studies about the battle of okinawa to create a new peace studies program with a more interactive approach. she now teaches it at schools throughout the prefecture. this social studies teacher has been conducting peace study classes for years, but he still finds them a challenge. >> as teachers we've been taking an approach in which we rush through all the class, and i feel very bad about that. i've been wondering how to convey what really happened in the battle of okinawa so students can grasp it. >> the class begins with an

overview of the battle of okinawa, but nitsuki has a new trick up her sleeve. role playing. each student pretends to be a resident where the u.s. army first landed. >> the remaining students have to choose where to take shelter after their homes have burned down in an air-raid. >> the small cave that the students chose, 83 of the

roughly 140 people hiding there took their own lives in a mass suicide.

they were told that they should never let themselves be captured by the americans and were pressured into dying. collective suicide occurred in many parts of okinawa. on the other hand, residents were caught up in fighting while those who fled perished from starvation and disease. no matter which choice people

made a harsh fate awaited them. >> nitsuki then poses a crucial question. >> to prevent the sorrow of war and ensure it doesn't happen again. >> i think this is something people from the mainland not

just okinawa should understand as well, and we need to understand it ourselves in order to teach it. >> why study the battle of okinawa? it's a question that even the adults taking the class ask themselves. this study was born from a desire among those who had experienced a war to live in peace. today the people of okinawa are still grappling with what that really means. sato kumi, nhk world. >> finding new ways to make young people connect with okinawa's wartime mystery has been a journey for nitsuki and her mission is gaining momentum. she joins me now at the cornerstone of peace monument. hello. who are you here with today?

and this is a very special day. >> well, i think your work has definitely had enough positive impact. thank you so much for your time. thank you all.

every memorial day people gather here to pay tribute to the more than 200,000 people killed in the battle of okinawa. but the hard learned lsons of war are not just for june 23rd. they should stay with us all

year round. that's all for this edition of "newsline in depth" from okinawa. i'm shibuya aki. thank you for watching and see you soon. ♪ ■o;o;ó7ó7 ççç@ów