noon on wednesday japan time. japan's meteorological agency says tropical storm malou is over the sea of japan 80 kilometers west of fukui city and moving east at a speed of 35 kilometers per hour. with a central pressure of 998 hectopascals the storm is packing winds of up to 72 kilometers per hour around its center. weather officials are warning that there will be stormy seas and strong winds in western and central japanese coastal areas facing the sea of japan. they're also cautioning against mudslides, flooding, river swelling, strong winds and high waves. >>> north korea has released the crew members of a south korean fishing boat captured for alleged illegal fishing one month ago. the boat was handed over at the sea boundary between north and south korea on tuesday and arrived at the port of sokcho later in the day. the three south korean and four chinese fishing workers were brought safely to the port. the captain said they were able to return home thanks to the support of the south korean people. north kor

wakanohana also served as chairman of the japan sumo association from 1988 to 1992. >>> in japan salesf new autos rose 46% in august from a year ago. that's the largest increase for august since data collection began in 1968. it also marks the 13th straight month of improved sales. the japan automobile dealers association says nearly 300,000 cars were sold. sales for fuji heavy the maker of subaru cars were up 70%. honda showed a 61% rise, mazda 59%, mitsubishi 47%, and nissan 44%. the association says sales of ecofriendly vehicles rose sharply as buyers took advantage of government subsidies thaex pier at the end of september. it expects the government incentives will keep sales strong through the month, but beyond that the association says the outlook for auto sales is uncertain. >>> japan's government has agreed to work with the government of spain to help boost the country's use of ecofriendly cars. trade and industry minister masayuki naoshima confirmed the arrangement when he met with spain's industry minister miguel sebastian in tokyo on wednesday. spain plans to increase domest

guide them to integrate in japan. we will give them the japanese lessons and other information which is necessary to live in japan but the decisions for their lives we would like to let them do by themselves. we'll much more actively involve ourselves to listen to their difficulties so once a month at least we are going to listen to their difficulties, what kind of difficulties they are facing in their daily lives and that is the pilot project. if there is anything that we can improve, we'll consider that for the next fiscal year. >> before the refugees left thailand, nhk world visited their camp to see what kind of environment they have been living in. >> reporter: this refugee camp was built 26 years ago. shelters for refugees crowded together on rugged mountain slopes. many of the refugees here are minority people from myanmar. the fighting and the government oppression forced many from their villages. refugees sheltering in camps in neighboring thailand want to go back when peace returns to their homeland but thei

but unless japan exchange -- but unless japan changes its position that no territorial dispute existing in the east china sea, china will remain distrustful of japan. china may continue to take a hard line stance against japan. >> at least on the surface, the latest strain of bilateral relations is a result of the collision at sea. but how do you see the incident? >> well, the incident occurred amid the growing distrust between japan and china over security issues. japan is increasingly worried as the chinese navy has become more active, not only in the east china sea but also in the western pacific. china meanwhile is carefully watching japan's moves as japanese self-defense force takes steps to demoi additiploy additional troops around islands around okinawa. the incident will take on different means once it is decided whether it was accident a or whether there was a political intent behind it. japan knows that it was an accident. however, if it turns out that that wasn't a case, the incident represents a big problem. seeing the hard line stance china has, i can only assume that somet

its entire blue fin catch is exported to japan. participants are expecting south korea's response will come this december at a larger international meeting in hawaii. >> earlier we spoke with a fish riz official at the worldwide fund for nature, japan. she went to the conference. she says wwf japan welcomes the efforts to protect juvenile bluefin tuna. >> leadership of japanese delegation reached and agreed to reduce their fishing mortality of juvenile age class fish below the level of 2002 and 2004, which means practical to reduce the impact of overfishing to pacific bluefin tuna. the fishing mortality for the juvenile age class of the bluefin tuna have been increases rapidly after 2002 or 200437 it is crucial for the fishing nations to decide and implement drastic fishing management system without any exception to avoid the pacific bluefin tuna situation at this moment. >> that was a fisheries official at the worldwide fund for nature japan. >>> a new business venture ready to hatch in japan, farming bluefin tuna. a japanese univ

. >> translator: japan is too weak-kneed. >> translator: japan should have done more. it's regrettable that it just let the captain go home. >> translator: i think japan did the right thing. it's better to contain the situation than to allow the row to escalate any further. >> the recent friction between japan and china has provided further evidence that what happens in east asia is of international concern. the united states is nervous about chinese moves in the east china sea, which is believed to be rich in oil, gas and other resources. china's premier, wen jiabao, appeared to be staking his country's claim last week at the u.n. general say semably in new york. assembly in new york. >> translator: china will not yield or compromise on sovereignty and territorial integrity. >> the east china sea conflict is focused in part on the senkaku islands. they are a a part of japan, but both china and taiwan claim them as their own. the united states has said that japan/u.s. security treaty covers the senkaku islands and would be applied in case of an armed conflict. concern

china disputes japan's sovereignty over the islands and demanded that japan apologize and compensate for the incident. prime minister kan rejected the demand. >>> the japanese prime minister said he is thinking of attending the asia/europe meeting in belgium next week. kan said asean leaders will be it at the meeting next week and thinks japan should be represented. >>> kan would meet leaders through bilateral talks on the sidelines of the two-day meeting starting on monday. he would sdplan there is no territorial dispute over the islands. chinese president hu jintao is also scheduled to attend. >>> the minister summoned chinese ambassador yonghua on monday. he requested that chinese diplomats be allowed to continue to see the detainees. maehara asked for meetings with the four and attorneys. he said he would convey the requests to the chinese government. the four are employees of fujita and have been detained since september 20th for allegedly filming military facilities without permission. japanese diplomats were allowed to meet with them for the first time on saturday. >>> in beij

japan time. former secretary-general ozawa and prime minister kan started their campaigns on september 1st. it has been a tough competition. during the campaign, ozawa stressed he has the leadership to implement the needed policies. >> translator: i'll work hard until the last moment. >> reporter: kan, meanwhile, said the party has to do away with old-style money politics and become more transparent. >> translator: i'll do my best to convey my ideas at the party convention. >> reporter: all of the bal otsz will be added up based on a points system. each of the lawmakers has two points, making for a total of 822. 100 points are set aside for local assembly members. rank and file members and supporters account for 300 points. the postal ballots of local assembly members, party members and supporters have already been received and were being counted on tuesday morning. kan is thought to have more support from local assembly members, party members and supporters. but the race among lawmakers is too c

first looking at japan, it's looking more like autumn here.t's fine and dry and lots of comfortable temperatures in store. toward the east it's a different story, though. got strong blustery winds in place with rain as well. now, down in the south of japan we're monitoring typhoon malaka. so that continues to churn its way across the pacific. and it is due to really hit some of the islands in the next 24 hours with torrential rains and fierce winds. over the next few days it will continue to take a northerly path, staying away from mainland japan but still over the weekend we're looking at that strong winds and the high waves to impact the east coast of the country. elsewhere across asia, southern china is contending with some showers over the week, and of course this is the area where we really don't want any more rainfall after devastating floods that hit the guangdong region. now, we've got some footage coming out of guangdong. let's take a look now. this is due to the remnants of typhoon fanapi, which first made landfall in taiwan and made

labor costs are about 1/10 that of japan's. this business has a lot of potential. >> reporter: another company providing affordable english lessons is alobe, a venture firm in osaka. founded six years ago, its business of dispatching english teachers has grown steadily. even though the company only has seven employees, it has 2,400 students and over 200 registered online teachers. for a monthly fee of about $35 students can take one-on-one one-hour english lessons for about $35. >> translator: our tuition is about half of what major english language schools charge. we try our best to cut fixed costs so we avoid things like spending on facilities. >> reporter: the firm's biggest selling point is that students can schedule with their teachers exactly when and where they want to study. >> hello. how are you? >> i am fine. and you? >> good, thanks. >> go ahead. >> reporter: shohei yamaguchi is a certified public tax accountant. the firm he works for is increasingly getting more work from overseas companies. so it's essential for hi

on the subject of japan/u.s. relations, the prime minister said he hopes to discuss ideas with president obama on how to deepen the alliance. >>> china is stepping up its protests over japan's detention of a fishing boat captain earlier this month.neworon tues, the chinese premiere demanded the captain's immediate release criticizing japan for what he ca the fisherman was arreste after he rammed his trawler into ja vessels in the east china sea. it happened off the senkaku islands which are a part of okinawa an are claimed by china and taiwan. chinese premier wen jiabao renewed th t skipper's release when he met with chinese students studying in the united states.cha' state agency quoted him as saying they are his nation's territory. the arrest has anger cne . he vowed that china would take further action if japan does not comply with its demand. this is the first time that the chinesere h commented onhe incident. china has canceled top level talks with japan that were t kelan the sidelines of the u.n. general as

an expert on infectious diseases says the bacteria may have already been spreading in japan. >> japan has been ranked bottom among oecd member nations for public spending on education as a percentage of gdp. the organization for economic cooperation and development published a report on tuesday that reviews member countries' education policies in 2007. the report says spending on education by japan's national and local governments accounted for 3.3% of gdp. the figure was unchanged from the previous year and was 1.5% below the average for the member nations. japan's ratio was the lowest among 28 comparable countries and was less than half the figure for iceland which was ranked the highest. meanwhile, household contributions to education expenditure in japan stood at 21.7%. for higher education, japanese households paid more than 51.1% of the cost. >>> next a story about senior citizens and poor nutrition. many are paying a stiff price for not eating enough meat. we see how some seniors' health improved after they began eating a balanced diet. >> reporter: this 89-year-old man has bee

welcome sunshine for japan.here is a pretty big system to the north and it is producing rather windy conditions across the hokkaido region today. also by the evening hours we are going to start seeing rainfall come in from the south. it looks like another wet day will be coming in on thursday. now, elsewhere that same rain is going to be seeing the southern half of china here. still a couple scattered showers showing up. it's going to remain a little bit on the unsettled side today and then we've got tropical showers and downpours across the indo-china peninsula as well as throughout the philippines. highs today looking at 33 degrees for manila, 26 -- or rather 28 in taipei. 20 degrees in seoul, so definitely on the cool side. 24 degrees for tokyo, the sunshine should help warm it up just a little bit today. now over towards the caribbean and we are seeing a tropical depression that has formed just south of cuba, already getting very close to the country here. still tropical depression but definitely showing sig

in japan by the weekend. hopefully by then it will have weak end. right now it is a very strong system. winds are hitting 126 kilometers per hour. gusts will be much, much higher. tropical storm lionrock is working its way to the southern coastline of china. once it makes contact with land, it should weaken quite a bit. it's been a slow-moving system. it's been producing a lot of rain in the area. it will continue to bring in a lot more moisture. rainfall amounts will continue to accumulate. the korean peninsula, we'll need to watch out for the strong winds as well as heavy rain. as for highs today, 35 and hot in tokyo. 34 in shanghai with rain. 34 in taipei. over towards the americas and the atlantic. keeping an eye on hurricane earl. still a category 4, major hurricane. large and very dangerou mong away from the bahamas. set to get very close to the east of the united states. warnings issued up and down the coastline. it will likely maintain a lot of strength as it works its way northward. showers will impa

japan's financial services minister said authorities will deal with the incubator bank of japan in an orderly manner. >>> japan's economic growth from april to june was revised up to 1.5%. that's an annual terms and it is a percentage point higher than the initial estimate given in mid-august. the cabinet office said on friday that the gross domestic product rose 4% from the previous three months, this marks a third straight quarter of expansion. the revision is an upgrade from the preliminary report, but the pace of expansion was much slower than the 5 pst shown from january through march. one factor to push up growth was increased company spending on plant and equipment, which was higher than many forecasts. in other words, the slow pace in cutting inventories. a government official said the economy continues to show signs of a recovery but expressed caution about the future due to a strong yen and uncertainties overseas. >>> tokyo stocks rose on friday morning as the dollar stn. the nikkei 225 ended the morning session at 9279, up 181 ticks or almost 2% higher. export related share

some parts of japan. next we follow some kelp harvesters in hokkaido, northern japan, who must wait for a sunny day. kombu gatherers in the hidaka region start harvesting in july. summer is the busiest time of year because that's when the kelp is softest. drying seaweed requires strong summer sunlight. kombu is said to be at its sweetest and most delicious when the sun dries it quickly, while it is still fresh. this means that to make good kombu, the kelp can only be harvested on sunny days. unfortunately, there haven't been many sunny days this season. takashi has harvest ed for year. he's only gone out ten times. that's half as much as usual. >> when the tide comes in, the waves are high. it's hard to get in and out of the boat. i may not go out today. my annual income is determined by this harvest, so it's a matter of life and death for me. >> when the weather is bad, he tries to gather kombu but the shore to bring in a little income. the pounding surf makes the job difficult. nitta has had better days

captain by the japan coast guard. the man was detained near islands claimed by china and taiwan. >> on this narrow issue we hope to be resolved by china and gentleman man. >> u.s. assistant secretary of state phillip crowly told reporters on tuesday that maintaining peace and stability in the far east is the interest of the u.s. china has escalated the reaction to the detention. on monday they postponed a scheduled visit to japan by the national people's congress. >>> an exhibition by the japanese pop artist takashi murakami is under way at the palace of versailles in france. the show has been praised and criticized by french traditionalists. an installation of about 20 of murakami's works was open to the public on tuesday at the world heritage site outside paris. the animation inspired sculptures include a girl character and a colorful flower object. a six meter tall statue of a golden cupba, a legendary japanese creature, is in sharp contrast with its surroundings. >> i think it's a great idea to -- with the whole d

japan's economic growth ended decades ago. the political leaders must tell the people about in hard truth. when consensus building will be more difficult, it is the leaders' role to make the gft more transparent and accountable. i think friction is unavoidable, but only through friction like the sound of a violin, they'll be able to hear people's real voice. >> professor, thank you very much for your insight today. >> thank you. >> the professor from the international christian university. >>> afghanistan is about to hold its second parliamentary election since the u.s.-led military campaign toppled the taliban in 2001, marking an important step in the nation's reconstruction as the united states prepares to begin withdrawing its troops starting next july. but because of the grave security conditions, concerns are growing over whether the afghan people will be able to safely cast their ballots. >> reporter: afghans go to the polls on saturday to choose about 250 lower house members. the afghan government and international comm

well, it's a much calmer day here in japan today. that tropical depression moving further and further away from the archipelago. it does mean with the high pressure system in control now, temperatures will be climbing back up. meanwhile, it does look like autumn is on the way for the korean peninsula and northeastern china, as this low pressure system pulls in bringing rain, it will also be bringing much cooler air. of course it will be coming into japan as well by the weekend. tropical depression over the south china sea is getting ready to move into southeastern china. it is getting stronger and is expected to become a tropical storm by tonight. so along the coast here, expect winds to pick up as well as waves and also heavy rain is on the way for the next couple of days. and more drenching downpours to affect taiwan across the northern end of luzon of the philippines as well. do watch out for flooding and landslides here. temperature-wise, manila 34 with showers. also some showers for hong kong today. 32. while up in the north, mu

is criticizing china and japan over their currency policies. treasury secretary timothy geithner said china is too slow in letting the yuan go higher while lawmakers oppose japan's currency intervention. the senate and the house of representatives invited geithner to the hearings on china's industrial policy on thursday. lawmakers were critical of china because the chinese currency has risen only a little over the past three months. that's despite china's announcement in june that it would raise currency flexibility to push the reforms in its exchange rate spichl system. >> the pace of appreciation has been too slow, and the extent of appreciation too limited. and we are examining the important question of what mix of tools, tools available to the united states, and what multilateral approaches might help encourage the chinese authorities to move more quickly. >> turning to japan's recent intervention, senate banking committee chairman christopher dodd also criticized. >> one thing's very clear. unilateral currency intervention by japan, china,

forces in japan. about $5.5 billion for ballistic defense, fuels for ships and aircraft, and for maintenance of chartered government jets. >>> the japanese government has begun work on its draft budget for fiscal 2011. the main challenge will be to curb ballooning expenditure while at the same time securing funding in the tight fiscal conditions. total spending under general accounts for next year will likely top a record $1.1 trillion. the ministries have asked for a larger than forecast $36 billion in the special reserve to fund the administration's growth-related policies. another large chunk will be needed to service the debts on government bonds. on the revenue side tax income will likely remain relatively flat due to sluggish economy. the government is also planning to cap new bond issuance at this year's level at slightly over $520 billion. to cut wasteful spending and obtain more funding, the government will start screening projects under special accounts in october. >>> japan airlines now und

so exactly what did japan do? the country's treasury sold its own currency, the yen, and bought u.s. dollars. the idea is to drive down the value of the yen versus the dollar, making japan's currency cheaper. >> wolfgang koester is the c.i.a. at a firm that. welcome back to "nightly business report." what companies do you think get hurt by this japanese yen intervention? >> the people that are going to get hurt are the people that are looking to -- that have costs in japan, more than the people that are looking at the revenues. what is really important is for corporations and their investors to understand where the corporations have the exposures on the revenue, as well as the costs. for example, net exposure side. >> tom: so when you're talking about the cost side, these are companies that have some kind of manufacturing or services based in japan that could get hurt by this intervention, right? >> precisely. that's absolutely correct. that's what we're seeing at fireapps. we're seeing companies coming and lookin

now, japan today looking pretty wet, too. sections are looking at this low pressure system that's producing quite a bit of steady rainfall. some really heavy rains falling across tokyo this morning too. northeastern china as well. this rain band here just about stalled out for now, really impacting areas. with a couple areas picking up some pretty isolated heavy amounts of rainfall. as for highs today, 23 in tokyo. a rainy day and it's going to be quite cool. sunshine for seoul at 30 degrees. a little bit higher toward the south. 32 in hong kong. and even 37 degrees for chongqing. now, across the americas, mexico also dealing with a very strong storm system. tropical storm carl is working its way across the yucatan peninsula. now, not a particularly large storm system and not too strong either, but it did bring some pretty stormy conditions to the coast of cancun -- or rather the yucatan on wednesday when it made landfall. here's a look at the beaches in cancun. strong waves and some pretty strong winds, too, you can see here

niwa said japan could not accept the request. also on wednesday a group of chinese demonstrators protested against the arrest of the captain outside the japanese embassy in beijing. about 40 members of a private group that supports china's claim to the senkaku islands in the east china sea held a rally for about 30 minutes. they waved chinese flags and banners urging japan to get out of the islands. then they delivered a letter to the embassy. about 40 chinese police officers were deployed around the embassy but no serious incidents took place. so far the chinese media have not mentioned the beijing demonstration. they are focusing instead on china's pro test to the chinese government. it takes the incident seriously but at the same time it appears to be eager to prevent an untimely japan backlash in the country. back to you. >> thanks very much, that was nhk world's susumu shimokawa in beijing. >>> australia has finally resolved its political vacuum more than two weeks after the inclusive election. prime minister julia gillard r

the daytime high exceeded 37 degrees in central and western japan. the agency says the unusually hot weather will continue for another week or so and urges caution against heatstroke. >>> myanmar's top military leader will visit china ahead of his country's first general election in two decades in an apparent bid for chinese support. china's foreign ministry amountainoused on thursday that senior general than shuei will visit wen jiabao and hu jintao. international concern is growing that the november election will end up favoring the military regime because pro-democracy leader aung san suu kyi is virtually barred from the political process. china's foreign ministry spokesperson jiang yu said that peace and stability in myanmar will bring peace and prosperity to the entire region. >>> a large-scale trade fair has opened in china, with many countries from northeast asia participating as well as north korea. the five-day event started on thursday in chanchung, jilin province. more than 600 companies from china, japan, south korea, russia, north korea,

starting 12 weeks ago, i was familiar with japan town. all the work that had been done by department, there are efforts to get that plan before you. we a lot about the social and environment -- social and physical environment. six weeks ago we were at a meeting here that was attended by two commissioners and it supervisor mirkarimi. we have been looking at the committee structure. we have been working with him to his effort to provide some additional funding. one of these warrants a significant attention from us and respect for the community in the effort that they have made. they have embarked on a very ambitious schedule. they were not aware of any finding work continued planning support and the review of the better neighborhood plan. basically i was assigned to work with the community on that. we are looking to deal with the community in meaningful ways. it is very exciting to me to report with the progress that we have made in the past few weeks. the first is the most important and the planning department is now providing additional s

japan's intervening to weaken its yen oh wait a minute later that wait a minute japan japan just intervened to weaken is in that sounds like currency manipulation ever was a currency manipulator. every world bank has a point where they want to see their currency added they think is most beneficial to their exports their consumers if they want to strong currency so it's just as a global game wherever it's a poker game and all the world's center central bankers are sitting around a table trying to push chips to one side or another and it's never going to and there's never going to be a period so long i guess we have currency where central bankers are manipulating their currency and it's enough that you know it just gives the cycle will go on forever. right and it's just you know just about where the tension is right now the tension is japan and china and they're also going to be you know geo political situations there's a fishing boat captain from china who's being held in detention in japan and that's creating. political tension there's a dispute about a natural gas field of both countries o

northern japan too dealing with hefty showers. as that rain subsides around noon, you can see a new system arriving on wednesday. the southern half of the country is going to stay dry. it will be very warm, once again, for you. tokyo with 32 degrees. a little bit cool in beijing with that rain and fwhiwind in place, 19 degrees. 35 degrees in chongching. >>> in north america, hurricane igor has picked up more pace. it stays offshore. it will get close to the south southeastern tip of canada and maintain that strength. we will likely see damaging winds as well as torrential rains, as much as 200 millimeters in the next day or so. keep updated with your local reports if you are in the area. it's producing dangerous rip currents as well as large swells. across the eastern third of the u.s. and canada, looking generally calm and dry. central areas dealing with very windy conditions today. red flag warnings in place across the rockies and towards the north. the storm system likely to kick up a few strong thunderstorms in minnesota. rela

bases in japan are now. know that there are security measures and programs and gleason asian countries we want the u.s. to reduce their bases. aside from noise pollution and space concerns one of the arguments against u.s. military bases on okinawa is crime according to the treaty american citizens attach to the base can't be tried under japanese law now most of the crimes about ninety percent involve drinking and driving or are traffic related but there are a few high profile crimes which include rape and murder which have put a strain on japanese u.s. relations. crimes do happen the japanese security cannot deal. them directly they must go through the u.s. military base command then you have to simply trust them and it becomes very difficult for the u.s. military declined an interview with r.t. but did give us this statement. whereas a small group of people in okinawa vocalized that they are not happy with the bases many people there on mainland japan fully support u.s. forces in okinawa and to japan the r

forces in okinawa and to japan the realize the vital role the play in the defense of japan and for regional stability and security but getting the u.s. out isn't as easy as a vote by the people japan's surrender at the end of the war limits the country to having only a security defense force as part of the treaty the united states officially acts as japan's military in case a conflict should arise that affects the country but now there is a small but vocal movement suggesting that it is time to review old policies that just aren't needed anymore. the situation in egypt has calmed there are no conflicts here any conflicts that exist or in western iraq and not here the people in okinawa think that the strategic value of these bases has diminished but the u.s. . but with china growing stronger as a geo political force in the region and the instability of north korea still a concern it is likely that the united states won't be leaving okinawa any time soon john thomas r.t. okinawa japan. i'll be back with a recap of our main story in a couple of the. stay with us here on r.t. . or. from. from.

okinawa japan. back to our top story breaking news here on up to twelve people have been killed by a powerful car bomb attack in the central market on the southern russian city of that account has a terror attack more than eighty people injured they say another bomb has been found that the gates of the market in the area has been evacuated the american says ministry is sending a plane with a medical help for the injured. well you know things that data space and if humans. the some are region is economically and socially one of russia's better developed provinces the region has a significant scientific and industrial capacity that will realize its full potential after the construction of the. park can tell ya he has completed the i t. park or has r. and d. projects in the spheres of automotive construction aerospace and oil chemistry high tech datacenter furbished with cutting edge servers and communication equipment will be constructed at the core of the park the project has been personally approved

okinawa japan. a powerful bomb has been defused of the hydroelectric plant in russia's southern republican dagestan it follows an also an attack at the facility that's being blamed on militants the bomb was placed under a sixteen ton oil tanker and would have caused devastation if it had gone off a special robots was used to defuse the remotely controlled device police are searching for a worker who disappeared as a father broke out at the station on cheese day security analyst alexander semin of says this is all a sign that militants of changing their tactics. they have done it too of shill the inability of the authorities at present to provide security mainly in the region of north caucasus and the second you know that's either structure is one of the of key elements to modernization of the country which was announced my own president and this is a major threats to many people living nearby those hydroelectric power stations so festival the aim is to destabilize the atmosphere to the steel city wh