the worst is happening in hokkaido. we have some pictures to show you from western hokkaido. hokkaido has been battered by blizzard conditions since tuesday. heavy snow and 135 kilometers per hour gusts were reported this afternoon. several people have been killed due to snow related accidents. hundreds of flights to and from northern japan have been canceled. meanwhile, water levels rose by one meter on the east coast causing widespread -- stormy conditions will linger as we go in to thursday. we're expecting gusts of 160 kilometers per hour. strong enough to cause some structure damage, and even trucks could overturn and still an additional 80 centimeters of snow could fall across hokkaido within the next 24 hours. because stronger winds are blowing in to the sea of japan sight, hon chew received lots of snow fall up to 120 centimeters of snow for the hokuriku ranging. and snow will likely combine with very strong winds, so that will provide whiteout conditions in many places. snow and winds will continue into your thursday but temperatures are not so low, so instead of pow

this is video from hokkaido. this is why the japan meteorological agency has asked people to stay indoors in eastern hokkaido here today. whiteout conditions on the roads. we are looking at wind reports in some areas at 144 kilometers per hour. that, as well as 80 centimeters of snowfall could be coming down with this storm system. let's take a look at the forecast -- this first. not just in northern hokkaido where we have been seeing the winds gust all here. evacuation advisories in nemuro. but in the west, 163 centimeters have come down. and plus on tuesday evening into wednesday morning we are seeing the gusty winds near the coastal areas of kanagawa prefecture. and we have seen the gusty winds in chiba and you is the center of low pressure where the worst of the storm system is hitting in eastern hokkaido as well seeing the gusty winds. but extending back to the west. the western periphery of this, those winds wrap around and pulls in that cold air out of siberia and moves over the sea of japan. we could see

. >>> fishermen in hokkaido the northernmost island of japan, are being troubled by seals. the animals are protected because they once came close to extinction. but their numbers have increased in recent years, and they're wreaking havoc with the fishing industry. nhk world reports. >> reporter: the city of wakanai in hokkaido looks out over the sea of japan. peak season for fishing is fast approaching, and fishermen are concerned about the seal problem. >> translator: this is all the work of seals. >> reporter: last year this city and others nearby lost more than 2.4 million. local fishermen blames the problem on a growing number of seals. >> translator: there were no seals here until about ten years ago. but now they have made their way to wakanai. they came because there are a lot of fish here which means we really suffer. >> reporter: locals have tried various tactics, but over the long-term nothing has worked. yoshida came up with an idea. >> reporter: it looks menacing, didn't it? >> reporter: this float has the shape of a killer whale, a seal's natural predator. yosh

the blizzard conditions will happen in hokkaido on wednesday, going into thursday, as well. very cold air moving in for much of japan. so not just hokkaido but also much of japan will see some snowfall instead of a rainfall on the wednesday. upwards of 100 centimeters likely for the hokuriku region. up to 60 centimeters in tohoku region and western japan will see upwards of 50 centimeters in mountainous locations. please watch out for snow related incidents. snow will continue in hokkaido going into thursday, tokyo will see sunny weather on wednesday as we go into friday. the temperatures will stay below average, actually should be around 12 degrees for this time of year. so very chilly in tokyo. now across the united states and canada, we have a couple of systems to mention. this one here is bringing some snowfall and freezing rain for the northern areas, and line of thundershowers for the eastern areas of the u.s., that will move toward the east, and then back behind it, very cold air is coming as the temperatures will be on the low side. out west, rain and snowfall for th

abe met with five mayers from hokkaido. abe meeting president putin seven times. he said it shows relations between the county dris are at their best since the end of world war ii and hopes the japanese government will revolve the issue. he said he and putin agreed last year to speed up negotiations in order to sign a bilateral peace treaty. >> it is my mission as politicia politician and japanese prime minister to find a solution. i will tackle this issue with firm dedication. >> abe said ties have been b proceeding on various levels. discussions with putin, the country's foreign ministers have met. >>> a staple from the japanese diet is catching on elsewhere. kelp grows in abundance in russia, but most locals don't consider it food. some entrepreneurs are changing that by promoting the seaweed's health benefit. >> residents enjoy eating at this japanese restaurant. it serves authentic japanese food prepared with local ingredients. among them is kelp. it's used in the soup and is grown in russia's o's coast. >> it's simple, but tastes better than boarscht. >> usu

now, over 100 centimeters of snow has fallen, or actually piled up in hokkaido and nearly two metersn me aceh prefecture and more than normal for this time of year across western japan. high pressure system is now covering most of country. however as you can see a couple of low pressure systems are approaching. and these systems will intensify quite rapidly into tuesday and move across japan, so not just heavy rainfall. heavy snowfall. we're expecting gusts of nearly 130 kilometers per hour. waves are going to be up to six meters, and the risk of avalanches will be very, very high over the mountainous locations. as we go into wednesday, these systems will merge into one big system off the west coast of hokkaido. last year actually nine people were killed due to a blizzard condition. and this system will likely add strong as last year's storm so incidents may happen so please be careful. now over the next three days stormy conditions will batter most part of japan. tokyo rainy weather, cold temperatures on tuesday, and snow will increase, starting wednesday and thursday across the nor

a 20 meter tall christmas tree was lit up in hokkaido on saturday. this tree is a gift from halifax, canada, sister city. people can enjoy the magical scene until christmas day. all right. that's all for now. here is your extended forecast. >>> people in japan are making preparations to ring in the new year. they're decorating with traditional ornaments such as a sacred straw to -- strike red straw rope known as shimenawa. the temple attracts millions of visitors during the new year holidays. the temple adorns its main hall with a huge shimenawa designed to resemble rice stalks. the centuries old tradition is intended to assure an abubdant harvest. workers at the temple have been busy tying straw bundles since early november. the completed shimenawa will be about six meters long and weigh about 00 kilograms. >> translator: visitors come here with all sorts of wishes. we pray that the sacred rope we're making will allow their wishes to come true. >> the decoration will be displayed at the front of the main hall from december 25th to welcome visitors.

in hokkaido, 126 kilometers per hour. on thursday, on wednesday -- let's go to some video we have coming out of hokkaido where just take a look at this. this is what we have been seeing out there. a large wind, about 8 to 9 meters high near the kocoastal areas. we also see the heavy snowfall in some areas, 80, 90 centime r centimeters there in the north. now, meanwhile into nagoya, we had about 20 centimeters of snow here. this is on the pacific coast of japan and thursday morning. man was also found unconscious on a snow covered road. veinvestigators believe he fell off a motorbike there. we are seeing the threat of snowfall in nagoya, but let's talk about the storm system now. you have those winds coming in from the northwest. some areas, 80 secentimeters of accumulation. plus, you're looking at those very high waves. snowstorm warnings in effect across much of northern japan back on wednesday, the japan agency issued these -- days over here on thursday. max snow totals as i mentioned, 80 centers, but elsewhere, nagoya,

the pilot attempted to land the plane with about 300 passengers on board at an airport in hokkaido. the approach was too fast, triggering a cockpit alarm and the plane was forced to pull up and retry. pilots who make errors are supposed to be retrained. but the plane's captain reported that the training went smoothly. the co-pilot was later promoted. sources say airdo executives knew of the case, but did nothing. the airline's president apologized at a news conference. he said the co-pilot had many years of experience, and was trusted by his coworkers. saito said the co-pilot's second attempt at landing was error-free, so he judged the training a success. >>> japanese government's latest monthly report says the economy son a moderate recovery. but economic data released friday paints a rather gloomy picture. sales at department stores dropped for an eighth straight month in november, due mainly to weak demand for winter clothing. officials at the japan department stores association say 239 outlets nationwide sold about 4.7 billion dollars in goods last month. that's down 1% from the

about 60 centimeters of snow have fallen in the north of hokkaido. over 65 cent meters in the tohoku region. in the next 24 hours more heavy rain or snow is anticipated. up to 70 centimeters for the western parts of tohoku as well as hokkaido up to 50 centimeters for the eastern parts of tohoku. so significant weather events once again. wind gusts are going to be up to 110 kilometers per hour. strong enough to topple trees. waves are going to be up to seven meters. lots of event across many parts of japan. mostly dry over the pacific side, including kagoshima today where the launch was -- took place. however, because of the system coming in from china, lots of rain is likely for the pacific side of japan, including tokyo. our high is going to be only 11 degrees. that is your figure in seoul throughout the day. here's your extended forast around the globe. >>> that's "newsline" for this hour. i'm gene otani in tokyo. >> our stories. coming together to crush the islamic state organization. the meeting gets underway in brussels. on the agenda, how to hi

from hokkaido south you receive lots of snow fall during winter. we're expecting an additional 60 or 70 centimeters of snowfall in the tohoku region and over 50 centimeters, up to 50 centimeters in the hokuriku region in parts of western hokkaido. so more snow to come as we go into the next 24 hours. not just snow we're expecting up to 126 kilometers per hour. that could cause low visibility making for very dangerous driving conditions and could be up to eight meters of very, very significant weather events are happening over many parts of japan. now down towards the south we have a tropical storm. this is halled hagupit. it will make it to the central part of the philippines bied weekend. now temperatures on your wednesday in manila at 33 degrees with daytime thundershowers. to the north very cold air blanketing many parts of the continent and also japan. only 1 for the high in beijing and minus 14 degrees in ulan bator, despite sunny weather. now across the americas, we have been talking about drought over southern california. but a big improveme

in east asia we are seeing some cold air pulling in to japan, creating the sea-effect snow from hokkaidond the western portions of japan. this snow will eventually move out. high pressure moving in from the west. that's going to create sunnier skies for the korean peninsula and extending from the western side of japan into the central portions, and then eventually into the northern portions by the time we go into wednesday. high of 5 in seoul. 7 in beijing. 11 in tokyo with sunny skies. frost advisories, though, look out, for the southern portions of china as we go into tuesday. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extended outlook. >>> that's "newsline" for this hour. i'm gene otani in tokyo. from all of us here at nhk world, thanks very much for joining us. until next time, good-bye. ññ ♪ >> in paris. after the attack on a school in pakistan that left close to 150 d, officials threatened to reinstate executions. becoming a reality. a reported 500 terror convicts due to be executed in the coming weeks. more from karachi. >> it started happening three days ago when th

we also have some snow taking place into hokkaido. that will continue as we go into friday.ul, 3. tokyo, 9. hope you have a merry christmas and happy holidays wherever you are. here's your extended outlook. >>> that's "newsline" for this hour. i'm gene otani in tokyo. from all of us here at nhk world, thanks very much for joining us and happy holidays.cc oh uses his annual christmas day message to the mountain violence around the world, particularly among children -- a pope francis. pakistani leaders agreed to establish a military court for terrorism-related cases as part of a national plan of action following the deadly taliban school attack. and the u.s. rejects a claim from the islamic state group that it shot down a warplane flying with american-led coalition forces. it does not say because caused the crash but confirms the i.s. is now holding the jordanian pilot hostage. those are the headlines for you here on france 24. thank you

northern japan keeps on getting that sea effect snowfall, especially in and around the sea of japan, hokkaido. looks like the snow will add up into the the foreseeable future. the japan meteorological agency has reported an extreme cold wave will dominate much of japan starting start and it's forecast to be a week long event. the heavy snow is expected on the sea of japan side once again. this unusual weather was released because -- predicts a 30% of a big change in the forecast. compared to that of the normal, so this could really affect many people and businesses. i'm sure a lot of people in the northern japan area are just going to keep on shoveling this show snow. it's going to be another round of winter pressure today. it's going to be a sudden one though. so, this is going to happen in very short -- the snowfall is diminishing right now into the next 24 hours. the snow piling up in a short span makes it for avalanche, so we have avalanche advisories across much of the sea of japan side of this country, but the pacific side remains dry, the typical patter earns, so sunny skies. in fact,

. >>> and hospitality in hokkaido,

in hokkaido, we've seen some snowfall. around 100 centimeters, so the severe winter weather system continuing to occur here. in tokyo, partly cloudy skies, but farther towards the west could see 30 to 60 centimeters through your saturday. behind it, things stay on the chilly side, too. a high of minus 3. the low is getting down here minus 10. beijing at 4. continues to be the cold spot on the map with minus 11 in those partly cloudy skies. now as we move towards the americas, the big topic is this storm system now working its way from california, same system that brought that rainfall over there earlier this week, continuing to track up through parts of texas, oklahoma and then your going to continue to see this develop more and could bring the threat of thunderstorms as moisture surges in and out of the gulf of mexico and translates over toward snowfall into the northeast and even some freezing rain across parts of the new england states. all the cities into this direction, you want to be ready for some slick roads and de

continent while picking up moisture, snow clouds form over the northwestern side of the country from hokkaidoowards the tohoku region. because we have the strong winds coming into the western areas today, so not just the northwest but also western areas of japan. into next 24 hours, an additional 10 centimeters are likely to fall for the western areas. up to 80 centimeters of snow for the hokuriku region accompanied by strong gusts. temperatures will stay on the cold side as we go into saturday in tokyo as well as sapporo. as we go into monday, conditions will slightly improve at 14 degrees for the high in tokyo on your monday. similar conditions for seoul as well as shanghai. temperatures will slowly rise. now, across the americas, we saw some significant rainfall across california on tuesday, but the system is now affecting the mid part of the united states with thunderstorms. this one will continue to creep towards the east as we go into your friday. that will provide heavy rainfall as well as the risk of hail and also snowfall for the mountainous locations. freezing rain is expected for t

that's going to cloud up the skies and bring some rain, some snow into hokkaido as we go through the day thursday. keeping an eye on the severe tropical storm down near and actually between the philippines and vietnam. pushing toward the west at 15 kilometers per hour. this system probably going to hang on to its severe tropical storm status but then quickly weaken into a tropical depression by the weekend. temperatures, 15 degrees for the high coming up on thursday in tokyo with a chance for some rain. much colder in seoul with a high of 1. morning showers followed by just cloudy skies as that low continues to push off toward the east. now let's take a look at the forecast for north america specifically starting off on the western side of the continent where we have this low pressure system swinging on board with some cold air, plenty of rain and maybe even some snow from british columbia all the way into places like bakersfield and sacramento as we go through wednesday are rainfall totals for 300 millimeters. look out for wet spots and slick spots. speaking of rain on the eastern s

actually across parts of hokkaido, northwestern haichu you can still see winds over 100 kilometers perr plus more snowfall. but the good news is tapering off. but we are still seeing the impacts. take a look at some of these storm totals back tuesday into thursday. 102 centimeters here. other areas over that. 105 centimeters here. and then even back toward western portions of honshu nearly 50 centimeters of total snowfall. remember, this does not fall on green grass. it fell on previous snow. 216 centimeters of snow now on the ground in one area. this resulted in a landslide here on friday morning. it caught off about 200 people on a highway. you can see here heavy snow totals. this is a resort area, a small town, known from its snowfall. a lot of ski resorts in this area of japan. unfortunately, you get too much snow in a short period of time and it causes problems. this total right here is five times over the average what you typically see for this time of year. so you can make the argument, yes, this is normal, but this is definitely much more than what you normally see. now as far

that's producing some of the snow on the western edge of hokkaido, and the northern portions of japan. so look out for the possibility of seeing some snow on christmas. tokyo staying dry, 11 for the high on thursday. 2 in seoul. 6 in beijing. wet weather down toward the south, closer toward the tropics. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extended outlook. >>> that's "newsline" for this hour. i'm gene otani in tokyo. >> jordan confirms one of its pilots has been captured by an state. flying as part of the u.s.-led coalition and shot down in syria. the film at the heart of the scandal between the u.s. and north korea set to be screened. was pulled after hackers took on sony pictures. nato pushed ukraine to give up its neutral status in hopes of joining the alliance. and that that will complicate peace talks set for today. those are the headlines here on france 24. thanks for joining us.

we've had school closures across hokkaido prefecture.ne force, tokyo's international airport there, 125 flights canceled or delayed just because the powerful winds on the region on the western side of japan, well known for sea-effect snow. the current perspective out of the japan meteorological agency site shows you the warnings encompassing nearly every single prefecture across japan with warnings of inclement weather. 125 centimeters or another foot in the forecast after two to three feet has come down in a few of these spots. an area across the prefeck tiff, 50 inches of snowfall, the monthly average. 260 centimeters that has come down in december. the video there as far as what happened with the snow. resembles what we saw around upstate new york with the lake-effect snow in place and roll to the next video. we show you this secondary video because major travel disruptions i told you this is an american airlines flight flying from seoul, south korea had to make an emergency landing. one person with broken bones and look at this, neck