. welcome to "newsline." i'm cake chi hanada in tokyo. here are some of the stories we're following this hour. people in many parts of asia are coming together to remember the victims of a massive tsunami that hit the indian ocean exactly ten years ago. chinese tourists are heading to japan in growing numbers to take advantage of the weaker yen.

and hello kitty fans worldwide are celebrating 40 years of the character who is constantly changing but always the same. people in many parts of asia are looking back and remembering the families, friends, and homes they lost exactly ten years ago. the indian ocean tsunami devastated wide areas of indonesia, sri lanka, and india, leaving more than 220,000 people dead or missing. ♪ about 5,000 mourners gathered on thursday at the mosque in indonesian province of aceh. the region suffered the most casualties with over 160,000 deaths. they prayed for the victims to rest in peace. one woman says she lost nearly 30 of her relatives in the disaster. >> translator: i recall it as if it happened yesterday. i still feel deep sorrow. >> a massive quake hit off the

coast of sumatra island on december 26th, 2004, triggering a major tsunami. international assistance has helped to rebuild homes and roads in aceh. but analysts point out the need to raise the public's awareness of another possible disaster. the chinese government has strongly rejected a u.s. call for the release of chinese nobel peace prize laureate liu xiaobo. u.s. secretary of state john kerry made the demand to mark the fifth anniversary of liu's conviction. >> translator: we advise the u.s. to practice self-examination, to put right its own behavior that violates human rights and refrain from interfering in other countries' domestic affairs under the pretext of human rights. >> kerry said the u.s. is deeply concerned that china continues to incarcerate liu xiaobo and

keep his wife, liu xia, under house arrest. he urged china to release liu and remove all restrictions from his wife. the writer was sentenced in 2009 for inciting subversion. he had released documents online criticizing the communist government's one-party rule and seeking democratic reforms. in 2010 liu became the first chinese national to win the nobel peace prize. the chinese government did not allow him to attend the awards ceremony. the leaders of iraq and turkey have agreed to step up the fight against the islamic state militant group. the agreement marks a major thaw in relations that soured during the leadership of former iraqi prime minister nouri al maliki. the diplomatic rapprochement came in a meeting between iraqi prime minister hader al abadi and his turkish counterpart ahmed naptolu.

it was abadi's first visit to ankara since taking office in september. in a joint news conference abadi said he asked duktolu to provide arms and cooperate in intelligence gathering. duktolu said his country's ready to extend military assistant to iraq including training iraqi forces. the japanese government has released more interview accounts of the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant accident in 2011. one controversy has been that tokyo electric power company, or tepco, refused to use the term "meltdown" at the time. tepco operates the crippled nuclear plant. 772 interviews were conducted in 2011 and 2012 by a government committee that investigated the disaster. the testimony came mainly from government officials and tepco

workers. 127 interviews were made public on thursday, after receiving consent from the participants. one is from an employee at the tepco headquarters. he analyzed conditions inside reactor in early april 2011. the worker said he thought the upper half of the nuclear fuel rods in the number 1 reactor core must have completely melted down. cooling water was only covering the lower half of the rods. he added he heard tepco feared that a misunderstanding could occur as there was no exact definition of the term "meltdown." nuclear fuel melted at the number 1, 2 and 3 reactors. but tepco only admitted the possibility of meltdowns in may 2011. japanese are known for being among the world's biggest savers. but last year they actually spent more than they earned. yuko fukushima has more on that

and other business details. what's going on? >> last year people started to dip into their nest egg because they knew in april a tax hike was coming up. so they wanted to buy as many big ticket items as possible before it took effect. government officials say in fiscal 2013 people spent more money than they made for the first time since they started keeping data in 1955. officials say household income came to nearly $2.4 trillion, up $8.3 billion from the previous year. but they say final household spending rose about $64 billion to a little more than $2.4 trillion. that means japan's savings rate was minus 1.3% in yen terms. officials point to the rush in spending before the sales tax hike from 5% to 8%. historically, japanese have been careful to put away as much of their earnings as possible. just 15 years ago they had a savings rate above 8%.

but they've seen their wage increases get smaller and the population get older. and that's dragging their savings right down. that wasn't the only data government officials released today. they say in november production and shipments declined as inventory piled up on factory floors. the economy ministry officials say production was down by .6% from october against expectations of analysts. it was the first decline in three months. the officials say it decreased in eight of the 15 sectors they surveyed. they say the decline was particularly strong for semiconductor equipment and solid battery modules, but they expect things to be better in the months ahead. they predict output will push up by more than 3% in december and almost 6% in january. data on employment also came out this friday. the officials say the jobless rate was unchanged from october at 3.5%, but people looking for

work had a slightly better month. labor ministry officials say the ratio of job offers to seekers was up .02 points from the previous month to 1.12. that means there were 112 positions available for every 100 people looking for work. it's the highest job availability in 22 years. officials say that shows japan's job market is strong. stock prices traded largely mixed this friday morning as investors moved to book profits. for more details on individual shares and key levels we go to ramin mellegard, who has a full wrap-up for us. what do you have for us, ramin? >> thank you very much, yuko. well, with no clues really from the u.s. and european markets, which were closed for holidays, a lot of investors were looking at the data that came out for japan. so let's have a look at how the morning session wrapped up for the nikkei and topix. bit of a mixed morning session. the nikkei and the topix just in the positive. it was in and out of negative

territory. investors taking in the data that you just mentioned which provided evidence that japan's economy may provide further boosting after the inflation data slowed and industrial output came out a little worse than consensus expectations. now, that said, we did still see some gains in blue chip exporters and toyota was one of the big gainers today. also some high-tech shares as well. however, on the negative side i was watching some of the breweries which traded lower such as kirin holdings, asahi group holdings. some of them are trading x dividend, which means stockholders now will not have the rights to get the latest dividend payments. we saw some declines there. also let's have a look at currencies. big focus there. the dollar/yen still trading above that $1.20 level. but it was largely unmoved after the data this morning, yuko. but as i said, they're still above 120, .18 to 23 now. investors remain bullish that a

weaker yen against the dollar will remain in place heading into the new year. and touching on the bond markets, investors pick up japanese government bonds after the bank of japan surprised markets in late october by expand its bond buying program. we're seeing the effects now. the yield on ten-year jgb dipped to exactly 0.3% at one point. very quick look at asian markets as well. we're seeing a return of the gains to seoul's kospi and shanghai composite also trading in the positive there. but the overall tone really in this holiday-thinned market remains pretty quiet but the nikkei does look poised to the week on a positive note. back to you. >> ramin, i'll see you later. that was ramin mellegard reporting on the morning's market moves. other business news. people around the world have watched the yen plunge to levels not seen in years. tlaf seen the japanese currency top 128 against the dollar for the first time since 2007.

it's fallen by roughly 15% against the greenback and it's slid by 15% against the chinese yuan in the same period. takeshiyamuda is in china. he takes a look at the impact of the currency movements there. >> reporter: in downtown shanghai, about 600 people gather for an event at japanese style rock gardens. many in the crowd are planning a trip to japan, made all the more possible by their strength in currency. >> translator: i am interested in these rock gardens. currently the yen is weak, so i'd like to go to kyoto again. >> translator: when do you want to go to japan? >> translator: now should be a good time. >> reporter: a major travel in agency inning shan-high says tourism to japan by individuals last month moved up 30% from a year ago in terms of sales. the growth appears even steeper

for next year. reservations for february in time for chinese new year and after late march japan's cherry blossom season have more than doubl doubled. >> the yen is weakening. so i'll be able to buy luxury goods at much lower prices. >> translator: the currency situation, which is beneficial for accommodation and shopping, it's very good for us. it's a seller's market. otherwise, i don't think we would have had such a surge in the number of customers. >> reporter: the foreign exchange rate are also good news for some chinese companies involved in investment. this company has been receiving an increasing number of inquiries since last month. some people are keen to invest in japanese firms. others want to buy high performance machinery equipment. >> translator: in the past even

if a company put together 100 billion yuan it could only invest 150 billion yen in japan. now, if you invest the same amount in japan it becomes 200 billion yen. the total investment value in japan has increased. now is a good time for investment opportunities for chinese firms. >> reporter: it's a different story for japanese companies that expose their products to their home country. the main business of this firm in jangsu province is to make plastic products. the company started operations in december 2012. it turns out disposable spoons, cups, and other items for restaurants, food companies, and convenience stores. its representative received a directive from the tokyo head office to start making profits by the end of this year. odeki set up sales routes in china but no one anticipated

that it shrunk the firm's revenues when it received payments in yuan for japan-bound exports, revenues down more than 10% from estimates. personnel costs have surged as well. authorities have raised the legal minimum wage by more than 20% in the past year or so. that has compounded the company's financial difficulties. as an urgent cost-cutting move, odeki acquired new machinery to streamline operations. it cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. >> previously four people were needed for one line. now, one person can do the job. >> reporter: even so, the firm's profit plan has been delayed. ozeki expects the firm won't go into the black until the middle of next year. >> translator: the profit margin

is not very large to start with. so honestly speaking a 10% to 15% move in the exchange rate usually means we start losing money. >> earlier i talked with akira mikoro, senior commentator at nhk world. he recently returned from beijing. he gave some more insights into what's happening with the yuan. >> yuan used to be effectively pegged to the u.s. dollar. but china revalued its currency in 2005. it has also gradually widened the daily limit on the movement in the yuan's value. the range was plus or minus 0.3% against the dollar. but it's now plus or minus 2%. under the floating system the yuan's value has climbed fairly consistently due to china's rapid economic growth. it has increased farther against the dollar since april due to

growing expectations that beijing's economic stimulus measures will produce results. >> are the implications of the rising value of the yuan's value spreading overseas? >> some data show yuan is second only to the u.s. dollar in terms of volume of international trade settlement. the yuan is also having an impact on japanese companies. japan makes up a bigger share of japan's trade settlement for asia than the thai bat and south korean won. >> so with china's economic growth and expansion of trade enhancing the profile of chinese yuan? >> that's correct. the chinese government is promoting internationalization of the yuan, making it easier to use abroad. that's another big factor. china has also been strengthening financial cooperation with the other countries. direct trading between the chinese and south korean currencies began this month. such moves are not limited to asia and accelerating in

european countries. in october they gang issuing yuan-dominated bonds. similar moves were also approved in germany and france. as china's economy continues to grow, several countries in europe plan to expand trade in financial transaction with china using the yuan as their point of contact. they hope this will lead to revitalization of the economies. >> so why is china promoting the internationalization of the yuan? >> to minimize risks for chinese firms inside china. china is also trying to put the brakes on u.s. dominance of the international economic system. china's leaders are using their currency to strengthen the country's influence around the globe. to achieve that goal china is expected to further ease regulations such as expanding the daily floating band of its currency. but if the yuan is to become

more popular around the world, china also needs to ease domestic financial regulations including those involving interest rates and captive transactions. in other words, the future of the yuan depends on how much china can ease its regulations. >> that's all for now in business. i'll leave you with the market figures. ♪ ♪ people around the world can

find hello kitty on everything from t-shirts to coffee mugs. the popular character was created in japan 40 years ago. and the current designer, yuko yamaguchi, believes the pop culture icon shows no signs of slowing down. >> reporter: los angeles, california, usa. 25,000 fans gathered at a venue in little tokyo in october to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the birth of hello kitty. >> i love hello kitty. >> i'm an original hello kitty fan since 1978 and now my daughter is a fan, too, so i've been a hello kitty fan for 40 years. >> reporter: with her red bow and little dots for eyes, she's adored by children and adults everywhere. ♪ the world famous pop star lady gaga is known to be an ardent fan. she hit the headlines for

wearing this dress. for yuko yamaguchi, designing hello kitty is her life. yamaguchi started working after graduating from art school. hello kitty had made her debut six years earlier, but sales were stagnating. in 1980 yamaguchi was given the task of breathing new life into the character. yamaguchi felt that what hello kitty needed was a story that young girls could identify with. >> translator: i felt that i wouldn't be able to create a story for hello kitty if i didn't become friends with her and walk alongside her. so i talked to her every day. >> reporter: yamaguchi finds

that interacting with fans is the best way to get a feel for what they want. so she's held more than 1,000 signing parties in japan and other countries. hello kitty is currently sold in 130 countries and regions. she's been made into luxury jewelry and is coveted by wealthy older customers as well as the young. there are now more than 50,000 products featuring hello kitty, and they're said to bring in several billion yen every year. and international sales are higher than sales within japan. this is the design room of a clothing brand in los angeles. every season, 200 different hello kitty products are made here. the brand asks for sanrio's permission to make changes, such as adding a beard. designs are tailored to the tastes of each region.

the success of this method of doing business explains why sanrio's international sales exceed those in japan. this past september sanrio launched a new project to expand its customer base yet further. it's called hello kitty men. the line features men's fashion items incorporating hello kitty, intended to counteract the idea that the character is only for girls. >> translator: it looks cool. i'm not embarrassed to have hello kitty products. in fact, i think they're great. iconic fashion pieces. >> reporter: yamaguchi says hello kitty is like a blank canvas. >> translator: i think she's the only character who can take on so many different roles. hello kitty can be reborn as a result of me wondering what

people want me to do with the blank canvas. >> reporter: as yamaguchi draws on the changing times to reinvent hello kitty, she looks set to keep inspiring affection in to keep inspiring affection in fans of new generations and nationalities. time now for a check of the weather. people in the russian capital are dealing with their first big snowstorm. mai shoji joins us with the details. >> some residents may be feeling relieved due to the winter wonderland that finally hit moscow. there's lots of snow now, just in time for christmas. take a look at a video coming up from there today. after above-average warmth in mid-december moscow got its first taste of heavy snowfall thursday, just in time for christmas. the storm came unusually late this year as moscow typically sees its first big snowstorm in

mid october. more than 150 flights were delayed or canceled at the airport, stranding christmas day travelers. along with the snowfall, bitter cold temperatures swept over the city. the mercury will continue to drop to about minus 15 degrees over the next few days. this could continue in for the next few weeks even because we have a cold air mass that is covering much of the northern locations of europe. so for thursday the jet stream is mannedering in teandering in locations. by friday dipping down covering the boot of italy too. and that's going to be making for really cold temperatures. the temperatures will be about two to three degrees below average in the british isles as well. and we have a winter storm that is diving in. and that's likely to bring about several centimeters of snowfall. london will be escaping from that snow, but a little bit of precipitation in store for you for the next 24 hours. and a low pressure system across the western balkans is now bringing some wet and windy

weather. in fact, it's very windy out in croatia. your expected gusts will reach about 130 kilometers per hour. where you want to be is the iberian peninsula where it's going to be keeping in double digits for the temperatures and we're likely to see plenty of sunshine out there. out here across the americas two storms are pulling in. one is actually pulling away from the land mass which is good. but this is very close to each other, bringing very gusty conditions to the extreme east of canada. and also 80 millimeters of rainfall should be adding up. to the west we have an incoming winter storm. we have avalanche warnings in place, freeze warning as well as winter storm advisories. up to about 40 centimeters of additional snowfall could be piling up, especially in the higher elevations. and that's going to be dipping down into the four corners regions. out across los angeles, though, things are fine at 18 degrees. looking at denver at minus 6 on your boxing day with some snow in the forecast. not a great day to go out and

shop. but take a look at the eastern areas. new york, d.c., atlanta, all in the double digits and plenty of sunshine. great day to shop outdoors. out here across southeastern asia we have a band of monsoon and some low pressure systems, all in the monsoonal belt. low pressure system over sri lanka has created about 165 millimeters of rainfall in the past 24 hours. so rain will continue to fall for the next few days at least. malaysia has been seeing severe floods due to the northeastern monsoonal flow. and the philippines due to a low pressure system that is east of mindanao, we're likely to see some scattered thunderstorms to be continuing. these are temperatures for asia. tokyo at 10 degrees for the high today, but we actually marked 0.4 degrees for the morning hours. and snow is keeping on falling across the sea of japan side. it's up to more than two millimeters high in some locations which is likely to continue with about 60 centimeters of additional snowfall in some locations. here are your new year eve

outlook all the way into new year's on wednesday. i'll leave you now for your extended forecast around the selected cities around the globe. ♪ ♪ ♪

and that concludes this edition of "newsline." i i'm keikichi hanada. on behalf of our team, thank you for staying with us.

good evening from los angeles, i'm tavis smiley. merry christmas. tonight a conversation with musician dave koz. his latest holiday offering titled "the 25th of december." featuring duets with some of his friends, johnny mathis, eric bonet, gloria estefan, india arie, stevie wonder, and jonathan butler. he and jonathan, in fact, will close our show tonight with two classic carols. we're glad you joined us. a conversation and performance from dave koz coming up right now. ♪