they plan to test them at iwakuni. they then want to deploy the aircraft at the futenma air station in okinawa prefecture later this year for full flight operations. >>> hiromi is nhk's senior commentator on asian affairs. he recently interviewed several key players in the region. how would you describe the current economic situation in indonesia? >> well, the country has recovered from the political unrest that began a decade ago after the fall of the president. it's been enjoying stable economic growth over the past several years with annual rates of 5% and 6%. now the president wants to take it one step further. >> translator: the fruits of economic development must be fairly distributed to allow the entire nation to enjoy its benefits. >> indonesia's strength lies in its population of 240 million people, the largest in southeast asia. and the youth of its workforce. this chart shows how the proportion of younger generations has grown over the past 40 years. this kind of demographic provides a great potential for na

a group of demonstrators gathered near the iwakuni base to protest against the osprey development. they want the central government to stop the u.s. military from using aircraft in japan. so why is the u.s. sticking to its plan to deploy the osprey in okinawa? >> it puts the strategy on asia where chinese is building up it's military. the u.s. government plans to spread marines across the region to keep the chinese in check. c c comcompared to the ch 46 helicopter, the aircraft can fly twice as fast and the range is five times longer. prime minister's government is onboard with the osprey deployment. his officials say the aircraft is necessary to detain deterrents there. >> can you tell us about how the japanese are reacting to noda is on this now? >> the osprey -- the u.s. military is planning to run test flights around the country. but the sentiment is strongest in okinawa. but the station is in the middle of the busy city. residents don't want the aircraft flying in the skies above them. japanese and u.s. leaders agreed to relocate the bases to the coast al area of okinawa city

is planning to deliver the ospreys to the marine corps air station in iwakuni, intending to put them into service at the futenma air station in okinawa in early october. the policy chief on thursday met with the defense minister, calling on the defense minister to review the deployment timetable with the u.s. in light of public concerns. the lower house members from yamaguchi are calling on the government for a halt to the delivery to the prefecture. they conveyed their request to the chief cabinet secretary on thursday. they say there are still not enough details about the recent crashes of the aircraft. they say they also need to win support from local municipali municipalities ahead of the deployment. >>> a lot cooler today. in fact more than ten degrees lower than wednesday -- thursday here in tokyo and some rains coming ahead too. let's turn now to rachel ferguson for the forecast. >> we're going to be talking about some much cooler temperatures in the northern half of japan into saturday. some northeast winds are bringing the temperatures down by about ten degrees and quite wet