ako and daisuke live nearby. he was diagnosed with downs syndrome at birth.n he was a year and a half old, he began coming to the library with his mother to borrow cloth books. a book introducing musical notes really caught his eye. >> translator: we also borrow regular books but he's really drawn to the cloth ones. if i bring a big bag of them home, he'll say i want one of those. >> reporter: now daisuke can play the piano. it's a simple song but it requires both hands. ♪ >> translator: the cloth books have broadened his world. he learned how to read from them. and he got interested in knowing more about the things around him. >> reporter: it's tough for daisuke to interpret the notes, move his fingers and listen to the music all at the same time but he keeps trying. now watanabe and her team are sending the cloth books to children around the world, especially those living in poverty or without access to education. some books were sent to an orphanage in myanmar that takes care of 200 kids. many had lost their parents in ethnic conflicts or were abandoned du

it accounts for 60% of gdp. >> okay daisuke, what's really the outlook now for the talks? >> most analysts think more companies will raise wages this year. officials at the keidanren have expressed awillingness to raise pay. they are encouraging companies with higher earnings to boost base wages. the government is also pressing for pay hikes. prime minister shinzo abe delivered that message when he met management and labor representatives ahead of wage talks. political leaders are cutting corporate taxes. now they want companies to do their part by raising wages. nhk surveyed 100 major firms. 71 of them say they are considering pay raises. most of those firms say they are considering larger regular wage increases. and 25 companies say they were discussing the possibility of raising bonuses. the big change from last year's survey is that more firms are looking at raising base wages. managers of 23 firms say they may hike base pay for all employees. 17 companies say they may do so for young workers, and other categories of employees. in last year's survey only nine companies

daisuke takahashi, mhk world, matsuyama. >> quite an interesting story there.turn now to soccer. and day four of the afc asian cup in australia. defending champion japan faced palestine in the opening match of group d. this was one of the most important games for japan coach aguirre since he took over the team last august. in the eighth minute endo put his team in front. the 34-year-old gave japan the boost it needed in this first match. in the 25th minute -- off target but he redirected the ball with a header. japan added another goal and finished the first half on a 3-0 lead. japan remained focused from the top of the second half. in the 49th minute yoshida widened japan's leader from a header. japan won the game 4-0. >> translator: we all know the first match is really important. so we tried to dominate the game from the beginning. our next game against iraq will be difficult, will make it a good match and hope we can win. >> the palestinian team joining the asia cup for the first time. thousands of people in the gaza strip gathered at an event hall to watch