. >>> gene otani earlier talked to nhk world's reporter hiroki yajima who is in our sendai studio. >> we've just seen one man continuing to search for missing family members, and are there many people like him in other affected areas? >> yes, there are. the families of the missing often visit police stations and morgues. they want to learn as much as they can about the unidentified bodies, including physical characteristics and causes. each family has a different way of accepting the death of their loved ones. many say that they aren't able to come to terms with their loss until a body is found. but six months after the disaster, they are eventually coming to accept their loved ones' death as a reality, even without bodies or personal effects. >> have they actually started the legal process, like registering death certificates? >> yes, indeed. police say nearly 70% of the missing have been officially declared dead throughout the devastated areas. in japan, it's believed that the souls of ancestors return home during the buddhist bong festival in mid-august. applications for death cert

nhk world's hiroki yajima reports from sendai. >> the agriculture minister says more than 3,000 hectors of farmland has been affected. farmers believe that the sand and the salt left behind by the sea water will make it difficult to grow crops. one man lived in japan for more than 20 years and came up with the idea of finding farmers for the abandoned fields. the project is breathing new life into local communities that were once thriving villages. nhk world has more. >> reporter: the town in miyagi prefecture was battered by the march disaster. it was a 900 people are dead or missing. agriculture used to thrive here decades ago, but in the 1980s, many farmers shifted to agriculture to earn stable incomes. over 450 hectares of farm land were abandoned. the land cght the eye of this woman. she used to work as an english teacher in tokyo. soon after the march disast, she visited the city to do volunteer work. >> translator: i have to work hard. >> reporter: angela started working the farm land in june th owner gave her free use of the land and she now has 1.5 hectares of land under cultiv

nhk world's hiroki yajima from our studio in sendai. japan six months on will continue on thursday with our weekly segment, "nuclear watch." we'll look at how the japanese government and tokyo electric power company have dealt with the fukushima daiichi accident and its aftermath. plus our nuclear energy expert will tell us about the latest science behind how the nuclear crisis unfolded. >>> and this just in. a passenger plane crashed near the russian city of yaroslavo on wednesday killing 36 of the 37 people on board. russia's state-run news agency says a passenger plane crashed immediately after taking off from the airport in the western russian city of yaroslavl. it was carrying local ice hockey club members. a passenger plane crashed near the russian city of yaroslavl on wednesday killing 36 of the 37 people on board. the russian state-run news agency says a passenger plane crashed immediately after taking off from the airport in the western russia city of yaroslavl. the plane was carrying local ice hockey club members. >>> an explo

. >> that was hiroki yajima from our sendai studio. >>> we begin with this item from rtn malaysia. malaysia's customs department has seized 183 kilograms of methamphetamine drugs worth about $15 million. this is the biggest haul of methamphetamines in the country's history. following a tip-off, officials raided a house in kuala lumpur on tuesday. the drugs were flown in from iran and qatar via kuala lumpur international airport. they were in wooden crates declared as containing glass ornaments and flowerpots. a 29-year-old iranian suspect has been arrested. if convicted, he could face the death penalty. the raid follows a separate raid in the western state of salangur late last month. >>> the commander in chief of the thai army says he will seek cooperation from the military in myanmar to combat cross war drug smuggling. the thai myanmar border is one of the world's most notorious hot spots for narcotics trafficking. the general was speaking in bangkok on wednesday before leaving for myanmar where he will meet with his opposite number in his first official visit to the country sinc