they were fighting for the greater japan. >> oliver: to continue their murderous quest, japan had to have oil. by the late 1930s, 80% of japanese oil was imported from the united states. by 1940, fdr imposed an embargo of natural resources to japan. finally, all oil export were stopped. >> there are those who say that war was inevitable after the united states cut off aviation, gasoline and high tensile steel and things like that. is that true? >> the fact that they thought that war was inevitable is partially true. i say that because the japanese committed themselves to a full war effort after the embar were in place.embargoes >> oliver: one thing that stood in japan's path, the fleet. they were moved to pearl harbor to protect our interest to the pacific. >> it was an outpost of american might and there it sat. >> was the fleet sent to hawaii to lure the japanese into an attack? that is next on "war stories." daddy, come in the water! somebody didn't book with travelocity, with 24/7 customer support to help move them to theool daddy promised! look at me, i'm swimming! somebody, get

bonds orjgb as japan's gross domestic product. the country's fiscal standing is the worst among developing nations. the figures are concerning. but one expert sees significance differences between japan and europe. our reporter spoke with university of tokyo professor ito. >> the difference between japan and greece is two-fold. one is that most of the debts held by japanese residents so that there is little room for panic. and second, that the -- there is a room for consumption tax increase, valued a tax increase. and greece, it is 23% and it is very hard to raise that beyond 25%. japan, it is only 5% value added tax. so there is 20% room it raise the max value added tax. if japan, japanese government, can raise the value added tax rate to say, 25%, immediately, all of the fiscal deficit would be wiped out. >> if nothing is done between now and five years, i'm sure that debt burden will become really unsustainable and even the japanese may start fleeing the jgb holding and that would be a real serious situation. >> what concrete m

here in japan, the sea effect snow has been affecting much of the japan side of the northern japan. especially in western hokkaido. additional 30 centimeters may be accumulating in those areas. but by tuesday, it looks like the high pressure will be dominant in much of the country and looking clear and dry for much of the country. except for tokyo and the pacific coast. southeasterly winds will be picking up the moisture we may see some precipitation starting tuesday overnight. however, looking at much of the rest of eastern continental asia, we see that it's going to be very clear and dry. some snow precipitation, patches in northeastern china, nothing too significant. taiwan and the philippines will be looking at widespread showers to be continuing there for the next several days. we have an active low pressure system affecting the eastern coast of vietnam with strong winds and showers. but the indochina peninsula inlandwise looking very dry and will be remaining dry for the next few days. tokyo, looking at 12 degrees. 6 in the sing digit s ulan bator, minus 20 degrees and hanging

we'll step up efforts to increase market share in japan. >> european makers also turning to japan.any are struggling with the debt crisis there. the european countries used to provide grants for buying alternative energy products. now they are cutting those subsidies. demand is decreasing. leaders of a german solar company have grand visions. they're developing a raw scale power plant. now they work with local governments in japan to use abandoned farm lands for power projects. they are already having some success. japanese company put in order for mega solar panels. they are hardly waterproof, and they suffer almost no salt damage when installing areas near the sea. >> generally speaking, the japanese market is not easy to enter, in solar or other industries. we have to develop everything and will take time i think. >> demand for solar batteries in japan is rapidly increasing. makers aim to catch a surge in market size and boost their share. >>> more than 30 overseas makers entered the japanese market. they have to get over some hurdles as regulations make it difficult to buy land

for japan too. we're continuing to see a lot more sunshine spread, much drier weather even for this western side of the country that has been seeing a lot of snow these past few days. that is starting to ease. by tonight we should see it let up for much of the area. hokkaido looks like they'll continue to see a little more snowfall today. down towards the southeast, showers lingering across taiwan. for philippines today, central-southern sections will be looking at more showers coming on in. as for the indochina peninsula, it will be central vietnam that picks up a few light showers. otherwise it stays quite fine and dry. 20 expected in taipei. 11 shanghai. 2 for seoul. getting back up from sub-freezing levels. tokyo at 8, about the same as monday. although we're going to expect a little more sunshine. so things may feel a little warmer during the afternoon. as for the americas, looking at this batch of clouds really spreading across the mississippi valley. we've got this low that's been trekking in

and japan. in the u.s., we have the federal reserve having its policy meeting on tuesday, and really having a look at some of the recent economic data out of the u.s. it has shown an improvement across a lot of sectors, jobs, housing, and manufacturing, to name a few. so the focus is really on the language or words that the federal reserve uses at the end of its policy meeting. in japan, we have an important quarterly economic data. quarterly japan business survey for large and small manufacturers, and nine months after the march 11th disaster, a lot of focus will be on how japan's economy has been going through this period, where there's regional economies like fukushima that have been devastated both from the farming and fishing products, and also across a lot of different regions in the auto industry. we will see a lot of information from that thursday. that's going to be a crucial bit of data for japan. ai? >> all eyes on that. ramin, we'll hear more about the exchange rate. what kind of act

he manages the seafood processing company in kesennuma, japan. he came to this convention in china to turn things around. the tsunami last march washed away all of his company's plans. the company was unable to process seafood. managers were forced to lay off 84 employees, more than half their workforce. >> translator: i think it will take a number of years until we get back to where we were before the disaster. >> reporter: still, managers from 18 other small businesses hit by the march disaster are trying their best. they pitched their products to companies from all over china. the team is back to work. but it's slow going. sales have dropped about 80% since the disaster. he has no idea when his plants will get going again. so he and his colleagues are planning to move their processing to china to seek out new opportunities. a steady stream of representatives from chinese corporations stopped by his booth. nearly all of them sampled the shrimp. >> translator: it's tender and delicious. >> reporter: he headed out after a long day to a japanese r

and northern japan. we're going to be seeing a lot of precipitation. this could descend down towards northern kyushu. you may be seeing blowing snow dow down in the south. pacific side looking very dry. we're talking about snowfall that could be piling up to 60 centimeters anywhere you see that bright pink. in tohoku region. also, 50 centimeters or more wherever you see this purple. also, that's going to be lots of white stuff piling up in much of northern japan, even just down towards the south. 20 to 40 centimeters could be seen. we're talking about very strong winds too. blowing snow is what we're going to be concerned of as well as high waves, which could reach up to five to seven meters high wherever you see this yellow frame. we're also talking about avalanche risk, lightning strikes. it's not going to be a very pleasant white christmas, so to say, into our friday evening. tokyo staying sunny. 8 degrees on friday high. seoul at minus two degrees. that's going to be fairly chilly there. biting cold

a delay could substantially impact japan's capabilities in defense. >> translator: we hear japan's choice took into account to what degree japanese companies being involved in the production? >> translator: that is correct. except for some fighters, japan has paid licenses to locally produce fighter jets developed by the united states. thus retain its production technologies. however, there is no production plans next year and onward. companies here began to withdraw from production as production base has weakened, although u.s. said it would allow the final assemble of f-35 here in japan. the state of our technologies, however, including stealth capabilities would not be disclosed. they are likely to stay in the black books. to what extent the u.s. is ready to permit japan to produce electronics is not clear yet. a decision on f-35 will be announced next tuesday, final decision. japanese government has now asked to clarify then how it is going to deal with these challenges. >> that was nhk world's daisuke miyashita reporting for us tonight. >>> u.s. congress has aproved new sanctions aga

and "the road ahead" examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild.on't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline." >>> south korean coast guard officers can now shoot guns to defend themselves in confrontations with illegal fishermen. their commanders held an emergency meeting to respond to the killing this week of an officer. a chinese fishing boat captain stabbed him after he boarded a boat. the commissioner general of the maritime police agency mo kang-in told commanders that the killing had threatened the sovereignty of south korea and hurt the people's pride. he said from now on groups of armed fishermen in south korean waters will be viewed as criminal rings and will be treated harshly. coast guard officers will be allowed to shoot anyone who threatens them with a weapon below the thighs. officers involved in shootings will not be held accountable. the south korean government is expected to come up with comprehensive measures as early as next week to deal with illegal chinese fishing. >>> japan's foreign minister, koichiro gemba, s

a delay could substantially impact japan's capabilities in defense. >> translator: we hear japan's choice took into account to what degree japanese companies being involved in the production? >> translator: that is correct. except for some fighters, japan has paid licenses to locally produce fighter jets developed by the united states. thus retain its production technologies. however, there is no production plans next year and onward. companies here began to withdraw from aircraft production, as production base has weakened, although u.s. said it would allow the final assemble of f-35 here in japan. the state of our technologies, however, including stealth capabilities would not be disclosed. they are likely to stay in the black books. to what extent the u.s. is ready to permit japan to produce electronics is not clear yet. a decision on f-35 will be announced next tuesday, final decision. japanese government has now asked to clarify then how it is going to deal with these challenges. >> that was nhk world's daisuke miyashita reporting for us tonight. >>> u.s. congress has approved new fi

while japan is seeking to protect its farming sector. the two sides have been unable to narrow their differences since the bilateral talks were first started in 2007. farmers in australia are hoping this negotiation can make some headway. >> but when trade barriers like tariffs of 250% are in place, it makes us nearly impossible to compete on an international market. >> the meeting is japan's first round of bilateral trade talks since it announced last month it started discussions on a multilateral trade deal. this is with countries involved in the trans-pacific partnership or tpp. focus is on whether japan can reach an agreement with australia, which is already involved in the tpp talks. >>> as 2011 comes to an end, buddhist temples in japan are freshening up for the new year. year-end cleaning is under way at temples in kyoto. they're beating the dust out of the tatami mats. about 800 people, including buddhist priests participated in the cleaning at a temple. the sound of the cleaning is a signal that the new year is approaching. the

they were fighting for the greater japan. >> oliver: to continue their murderous quest, japan had to have oil. by the late 1930s, 80% of japanese oil was imported from the united states. by 1940, fdr imposed an embargo of natural resources to japan. finally, all oil export were stopped. >> there are those who say that war was inevitable after the united states cut off aviation, gasoline and high tensile steel and things like that. is that true? >> the fact that they thought that war was inevitable is partially true. i say that because the japanese committed themselves to a full war effort after the embar were in place.embargoes >> oliver: one thing that stood in japan's path, the fleet. they were moved to pearl harbor to protect our interest to the pacific. >> it was an outpost of american might and there it sat. >> was the fleet sent to hawaii to lure the japanese into an attack? that is next on "war stories." the other office devices? they don't get me. they're all like, "hey, brother, doesn't it bother you that no one notices you?" and i'm like, "doesn't it bother you you're not r

and northern japan. we're going to be seeing a lot of precipitation. this could descend down towards northern kyushu. you may be seeing blowing snow dow down in the south. pacific side looking very dry. we're talking about snowfall that could be piling up to 60 centimeters anywhere you see that bright pink. in tohoku region. also, 50 centimeters or more wherever you see this purple. also, that's going to be lots of white stuff piling up in much of northern japan, even just down towards the south. 20 to 40 centimeters could be seen. we're talking about very strong winds too. blowing snow is what we're going to be concerned of as well as waves, which could reach up to five to seven meters high wherever you see this yellow frame. we're also talking about avalanche risk, lightning strikes. it's not going to be a very pleasant white christmas, so to say, into our friday evening. tokyo staying sunny. 8 degrees on friday high. seoul at minus two degrees. that's going to be fairly chilly there. biting cold in ul

federal reserve, and bank of japan. another positive factor was thursday's relatively smooth auctions of french and spanish government bonds. as a result, the yield on italy ten year government bonds fell to 6.6% level. spain's yields dropped to 5.7% range, and belgium's levels declined to 4.8%. the yield on fran's bonds to the 3.1 range. it had been rising due to possible downgrade of its credit rating. >>> greece ground to a halt after unions called a strike to protest new austerity measures. it's the first major strike since the cabinet of prime minister lucas papademos was inaugurated last month. employees at tax offices, courts and public transport participated in the 24-hour strike called by leading labor unions on thursday. in the capital athens, demonstrators carrying placards and banners marched through a central causeway. papademos formed a national unity government in a bid to implement belt-tightening steps. these were required by the eu for further financial support. however, greeks are protesting the addit

as for japan, it's the nornl northwestern flange that will see cold precipitation off the sea of japan. we're talking a lot of snow and thundery episodes could be accompanying the snow. you do want to watch for that. highs on monday, tokyo comes up to 10 degrees with some sunny spells expected. 3 degrees in seoul and up to 11 in shanghai and 21 expected in taipai. you can see this area of precipitation rapidly will be developing into monday and we will be talking about a lot of wintry precipitation, blizzard warnings are started to be issued here. you do want to watch for heavy blowing snow and icy condition as holiday travel picks up. do stay on the watch for that. for the pacific northwest as well, british columbia will look at cold rain as well as snow and freezing rain coming in on monday. highs look like this for monday. 7 in seattle, minus 2 in denver and 11 degrees in oklahoma city. things are starting to get pretty chilly in parts of areas. and finally a look at europe. here it is going to be once again unsettled. we have a low developing through the scandanavian region and thu

let's head over to japan and talk about what's happening here. we had a system that passed through the area leaving behind sea-effect snow in the western saeshds. the sea of japan will still be seeing lots of wintry precipitation in towards the weekend. it looks like it will be continuing unfortunately and piling up an additional of 40 to 50 centimeters in some areas. that will be bringing strong winds that could pick up those high waefves as well. meanwhile, pacific side looking very dry and calm for you. so tokyo will remain devoid from rain precipitation and we may even see some sunny spells for our friday. temperaturewise, 12 degrees in tokyo. and seoul, beijing, ulan bator, looks like it's going to be a cold day for you. but temperatures will recover and it will be an upswing remaining in the normal average temperatures recovering by sunday. staying warm in manila at 32 degrees. let's head over to europe and talk about the windy situation that's been ongoing. however, the british isles and the scandinavian people, people in those vicinities,

japan's foreign minister has invited myanmar's leader to japan. the nobel peace lauerat expressed gratitude for the offer. >>> speaking to reporters after their meeting in myanmar's large et city on monday night. >> translator: i'm looking forward to visit japan in the near future so that she can see that our country has recovered from the earthquake and tsunami of march 11. >> pro democracy leader says she is grateful for the invitation and is excited to visit japan as she hasn't been for a long time. japan wants to support myanmar as much as possible. he wants to solidify in cooperation with the united states. calling on the japanese government to spotlight of plight of ethnic minorities in myanmar. she said japan must understand the importance of this issue in building a solid democracy. >>> a group of south korean civilians has met with north korea's new leader, kim jong-un. they are visiting to offer condolences over the death of his father, kim jong-il. the group had permission to make the trip. the 18-member group includes former first lady

there is a limit to what japan can do alone. japan should call on the world for cooperation and engage the iaea in an international effort to advance this work. >>> "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan post march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. "nuclear watch" brings insight and information on the impact of the fukushima crisis. "the road ahead" examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss them on "newsline." >>> an astronaut's mission may come to an end the moment he or she steps back on earth, but their work is far from over. after long periods of living in zero gravity, they need to undergo rehabilitation to become accustomed to life back on earth. we have been following some japanese astronauts that last month returned home after spending five and a half months on the international space station. >> living in zero gravity for long periods effects all parts of an astronaut's body. bone mass, skeleton, and especiall

>> a strong yen, certainly a big issue for us in japan. also not a day goes by without some reports about olympus. what's the latest on that? >> we have been keeping track of that all week. december 14th was that deadline for it to supply its july to september earnings, and the stock was down around 20% yesterday. again, a lot of volatile trading for olympus up monday and tuesday, then down 20% thursday, and we did have former ceo michael woodford at a news conference saying he wants to avoid proxy fight or management control fight, he sees a realistic chance of winning one. a lot of questions and anxiety for investors. amongst those, dividend payments in the fall accounting period of olympus. that's one account to be looked at. tokyo stock exchange is keeping a close eye on olympus in the coming weeks. nikkei and topix in the positive. >> i am going to continue with the michael woodford conference. he expressed frustration with the current president is mounting. woodford thinks everyone on the board should resign. >> translator: we alread

for japan too. we're continuing to see a lot more sunshine spread, much drier weather even for this western side of the country that has been seeing a lot of snow these past few days. that is starting to ease. by tonight we should see it let up for much of the area. hokkaido looks like they'll continue to see a little more snowfall today. down towards the southeast, showers lingering across taiwan. for philippines today, central-southern sections will be looking at more showers coming on in. as for the indochina peninsula, it will be central vietnam that picks up a few light showers. otherwise it stays quite fine and dry. 20 expected in taipei. 11 shanghai. 2 for seoul. getting back up from sub-freezing levels. tokyo at 8, about the same as monday. although we're going to expect a little more sunshine. so things may feel a little warmer during the afternoon. as for the americas, looking at this batch of clouds really spreading across the mississippi valley. we've got this low that's been trekking in

to japan. many are struggling with the debt crisis there. european countries used to provide grants for buying alternative energy products. now they are cutting those subsidi subsidies. demand is decreasindecreasing. leaders of a german solar company have grand visions. they're developing a large scale power plant they call mega solar. now they aim to convince local governments in japan to use abandoned farmlands for power projects. they are already having some success. a japanese company put in an order for mega solar panels. they are highly waterproof and they suffer almost no salt damage when installed in areas near the sea. >> generally speaking the japanese market is not easy to enter, not only in solar, also in other industries so we have to develop everything and just take some time, i think. >> reporter: demand for solar batteries in japan is rapidly increasing, and makers aim to catch a surge in market size and boost their share. michitaka yamaka, nhk world. >> currently more than 30 o

northern japan will be seeing sea effect snow, in the sea of japan side and looks like it may continue in towards the end of the week. lots of snow will pile up in hokkaido, as well as waves could be picking up to about three to four meters high. we're talking about snowfall approaching about -- an additional 30 centimeters in some parts of hokkaido. the rest of japan looking very clear and dry. we may even see some sunny spells in tokyo. as for temperature, tokyo, we're looking at 16 degrees, but we have a cold wave pulling in from northeastern china. beijing, already seeing zero degrees. seoul at zero as well. and tokyo, this temperature is going to be dropping down in towards the end of the week. we may even see single digit for the high for saturday. now let's head over to north america and talk about the winter storm. you can see the clouds moving towards the great lakes. this is going to be bringing very cold air behind the system, so as for thursday, we're going to be looking at nebraska, south dakota, going to be dealing with freezing rain to come for you. this system has a fro

as for japan heavy rain is gradually moving into north western. down toward the south remaining wet again across luzon particularly under the area, on the east coast of this area. now temperature wise, we expecting 9 degrees in korea, 3 in seoul, and across the south 30 degrees in bangkok. now heading over to the european countries, we can see completely different pictures between the north and south. why the southern areas are enjoying calmer weather than northern areas are still leading with very windy conditions. particularly windy in the northern uk. in scottland gusts could hit 160 kilometers per hour and in terms of precipitation and mix of rain and snow will move north ward over the scandinavian peninsula into the next 24 hours. temperatures wise we are expecting 10 degrees in london and 8 in paris. and not too bad in berlin, 10 degrees and 7 degrees. that's it for me now. >> >>> north koreans are believed to be line the streets of pyongyang for the funeral of kim jong-il. they are honoring their long time leader in the way many things are

it will mark the beginning of japan's revitalization and calls for a rethink of japan's energy policy. it says general expenditure and government bond issuance should not exceed the initial budget for this year. the council agreed that the government should limit new bonds to 44 trillion yen or about $567 billion. it says the european debt crisis emphasized the need to secure market trust for the fiscal structure. the government is expected to endorse the principles at a cabinet meeting this week. >>> japan has a new agency to oversee reconstruction. the lower house approved a bill to create the agency. the government says 200 people will coordinate the rebuilding work of other ministries an agencies. the headquarters in tokyo will employ 140 people. they will work at each of the branch offices. the government plans to open the agency in february and hopes to eventually employ 400 people. >>> "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan post march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. "nuclear watch" b

darvish is arguably the best pitcher in japan these days. his earned run average has been less than two for five straight years and he's just 25 years old. the rangers reportedly offered $51.7 million to darvish's team, the nippon fighters, more than the boston red sox bid to negotiate with daisuke matsuzaka. the rangers have made it to the world series two years in a row, but didn't win. >> well we're hopeful. you know, that's why we got into this process. was with the goal of signing the player and making him a ranger and hopefully helping us win a championship. >> fans think he would be a good fit. >> he seems to be very good. i'm excited about it. we need some good, a good pitcher. so go rangers. >> we're one strike away last year. you know, i think he's the missing piece. we just need. >> the rangers have until the 18th of january to work out a contract with darvish. now sumo. kisenosato flexed his muscles as an ozeki for the first time in the national sports arena. the occasion was an official practice session in anticipation of the ne

japan banned imports of all u.s. beef in 2003 after a case of mad cow disease was detected in the united states. since 2005, imports are limited to meat from cattle aged 20 months or younger after complete removal of the brain and spinal cords. pathogens that cause this are known to accumulate in these body parts. on friday the health ministry asked a flu safety commission to say how far restrictions can be eased without compromising safety. the focus of discussions aimed at raising the upper age of cattle from 20 to 30 months in line with international standards. the move is prompting mixed reactions in japan. >>> a restaurant owner welcomed the initiative saying the meat will taste a lot better if the age limit is raised. the picture is quite different twinge the japanese beef industry. producers are worried it will make it more difficult to compete on the domestic market. the food safety commission will produce a report by mid-2012. >>> japanese whalers have filed a lawsuit in the united states to stop anti-whalin

this time along the pacific side of southern japan. highs on tuesday looking like this in chongqing. tokyo high of 12 degrees with partly cloudy skies. little bit cooler than yesterday. and over towards the americas. it's the southwest corner that's going to be looking at quite a bit of activity. we've got the slow-moving low that's slowly working its way on land. and it is going to be bringing in showers for areas like southern california and then this northern area of new mexico. into the sierra will into watch for snow. this is a slow-moving system. so the snowy weather, stormy weather is going to be lingering over the next few days. accumulations could hit 10 to 40 centimeters in the highest elevations. watch out for that. and then even as that snow lingers, it also will be bringing cold precipitation to the central plains. so here instead we'll be talking about freezing rain possibilities, icy conditions are also going to pose a danger in this region as well. over towards the pacific northwest, 4 degrees in seattle. i expect on tu

look at all of this headed up in towards japan. korean peninsula seeing wintry precipitation and southern and central japan, chilly rain. as we head into the north, maybe about 30 centimeters are snow for parts of western hokkaido. in behind that, things looking dry and settled for much of mongolia as well as china, although very cool to say the least. manila, the philippines, still seeing heavy showers and winds coming in from the northeast and will also see lingering showers across vietnam, cambodia and laos. we were talking about the temperatures. no problems down in the tropics, in the low 30s as we usually see this time of year. hong kong at 21. by the end of the week, actually comes down to 17. still fairly comfortable. shanghai coming down to about 7 by the end of the week. we are going to see temperatures cooling down. average in seoul and beijing. minus 20 in ulan bator. getting significantly cooler up further towards the north. heading now into north america, many will see sunny skies, but very cool conditions as the skie

another day here in japan. of those cooler temperatures. we will see temperatures rising up beyond seasonal temperatures once again. it will be a dramatic change for friday, again into saturday. but let's talk about friday first. it is going to be very clear once again across the korean peninsula as well as mongolia and china here. mainland eastern asia. also up towards the north of japan, showers are moving away now. it will be very cool across much of the region. now down in japan we are going to see still more showers to come especially along the pacific edge of the country. and those temperatures will be low before they start to come back up into the weekend. heading further south it is going to stay on the warmer side showers starting to clear out of southern china here but it will be clinging on to that southeastern edge of indochina and continuing across the philippines as well. 17 degrees in hong kong. a little bit on the cool side for you this time of year. 18 in taipei. we have 11 in shanghai. just into the double digits there. th

for that reason, japan, the u.s. and south korea must monitor the north's political transition and liaise closely with each other. >> gemba also said the members of the six-party talks must work closely to ensure the north takes concrete steps toward denuclearization. now south korea is on high alert as it awaiting the repercussions of the death of north korea's leader. our correspondent in seoul has more on that. >> reporter: the south will hold a parliamentary committee meeting on tuesday to ponder the impact of kim jong-il's death. the director of the national intelligence service will take part in that meeting. it collects information on the north. the power succession to kim jong-un, the third son, will be done smoothly. they will also analyze if the north korea military will show any signs of provocation against the south. on monday, news that north korea test-fired short range missiles off the eastern coast made south koreans nervous. the incident occurred several hours prior to the announcement of kim's death

i see the japan towne mall almost as the community's main street. that is where things are happening. that is where you meet your neighbors and friends who do not live in the city anymore. when we all started the application for the store which originally met resistance, and as we were listening and guiding discussion, it was interesting to see that it was a large community of participation and warm up to the way we are seeing it. i feel the biggest mistake is in the questionable application by which this project was brought forward. how was it scratched out not to fit, and that bothers me. i could not be more clear about it, because even when we have southern applications every day we have other applications, we have always taken a stand back approach, and i want to take a stand track approach to this one. i have been on this long enough, and i remember the very unfortunate discussions we have had, and that is a name you will remember easily. i want to kind those -- to find ways to support this project but more on the side of caution. >> i do have

let's see how things are kicking off here this thursday morning japan. that we are going to go to ramine who is at the tokyo stock exchange. what can you tell us? >> good morning to you. as you said there, the dow actually reaching its highest levels since october. markets really focused on the e.u. leaders and any words from the summit meeting about how they're going to be tackling euro zone issues. they're going to be meeting, as you said, from thursday and friday, but also there's the european central bank policy meeting later today. that's also going to be a focus. markets are expecting a rate cut there. let's have a look at how the nikkei and the topix are kicking off. let's not forget, the nikkei rose yesterday with gains largely in banking and export stocks. volume was also much higher than previous sessions. investors hoping that euro zone issues hanging over global markets can be dealt with this week. we'll see after friday. as such, the focus is clearly on the upcoming e.u. summit meeting and whether the leaders can come up with concrete and to

towards the north of japan.s one system pulls away, the pacific edge should be drying out for friday. where we see some heavier rain is going to be taiwan in toward the philippines and we see the lingering showers for parts of vietnam, as well as laos and cambodia. 17 in hong kong and taipei. just 7 in shanghai. 0 in seoul, 1 in beijing. a chilly day in the capital. minus 12 for the high in ulan bator. let's take a look in north america. many of you seeing clear sunny skies, it will be very chilly for many of you. especially in the mountain states and in towards the four corners here. out towards the east, we've got a few showers, probably snowshowers across the great lakes region. and we're just starting to see the last of the well-developed storm system that brought quite a lot of snow to new england and also the mid-atlantic area. that's going to be heading up into maritime canada. and in its place, high pressure, so that means clear skies for you, although it will be seasonably chilly. 8 degrees in new york

and japan are not always easy. american troops have been based in okinawa since the end of the war and haven't always been the best of neighbors. now a theater group is acting out an old story to give people a fresh perspective. nhk world has more. >> performers make last minute adjustments and the play becomes a real life drama. june 30th, 1959, a u.s. fighter jet crashes into a village on okinawa. it skips into this elementary school, killing 11 children. six people who live nearby die. more than 200 others are hurt. this woman works with the play group. she remembers that day. >> it was after 14 years after the world war ii. okinawa people were so poor, but they had a hope with the children. suddenly they lost their lives. >> the play also deals with the impact u.s. forces had on okinawa. they took over in 1945. they gave control bacto japan 27 years later. but bases stayed. okinawa accounts for less than 1% of land area, but 70% of military here in the country are here. some bases are surrounded by densely popu

japan wants to get back to exporting its nuclear technology, even as it continues to deal with fallout from the fukushima daiichi accident. >>> welcome to "newsline." i'm michio kijima in tokyo. before the march 11 earthquake and tsunami triggered a crisis in japan, the government was focused on technology. that stance has not changed. but there is a new sense of caution. on the one hand, the government is considering future deals with other countries. on the other hand, it is honoring what it has already signed. a foreign affairs committee gave the go ahead on friday to several nuclear cooperation treaties with georgia, russia, vietnam and south korea. it will allow exportation and transfer related technology. >> translator: it would be meaningful for japan to offer safe nuclear technology to countries that request it. japan could also monitor conditions in the recipient countries and ensure the nonproliferation and peaceful use of nuclear power. >> japan also has a duty to share the lessons learned from the accident at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. >>> the lower house of

the demand for solar batteries in japan is rapidly increasing. overseas makers are trying to increase sales and gain market share. nhk world. >>> russians used ballots to show how unhappy they are with the state of politics in their country. many of them turned against prime minister vladimir putin and his russia party when they voted in sunday's election. the central election commission made an announcement monday after 96% of the ballots had been counted. united russia had won 49.5% of the vote. the communist party took 19.2%. it's the largest opposition force. it was led by just russia. the right wing secured 11.7%. >> translator: we will manager to remain the dominant political power. thank you for all your support. >> translator: i intend to announce that we secured a majority of seats in the lower house but the results are not available yet. when the vote counting is over, let's drink champagne. >> fighting words from putin and medvedev but this election result will have an impact. >> reporter: united russia is still projected to secure abo

>> i suspect the daily declared war on japan after japan surrendered but they were part of the allies certainly macarthur would have been in the command of them and would make sure of that with fdr and true man but i don't know. good question. >> go to the day of december december 7 i found interesting the bombing itself it is interesting to see hawaii at that time was on the half-hour different time frame so when the first current struck it was one of 5:00 p.m. the redskins playing the goals and people did not have cellphones and they would have press announcements and as you wrote as the rumor of war spread the seeds emptied one enterprising wife center has spent two was attending the game to get the dow at -- telegram top pros see 27 opposite the 25-yard line east side griffin stadium more in japan get too often is. the redskins ownership said using the piegza what was against the policy. >> county times had that occurred? [laughter] but then today would have been panic with this all funds with the communication. go into how we did communicate and how washington reacted and never p

japan wants to get back to exporting its nuclear technology, even as it continues to deal with fallout from the fukushima daiichi accident. >>> welcome to "newsline." i'm michio kijima in tokyo. before the march 11 earthquake and tsunami triggered a crisis in japan, the government was focused on technology. that stance has not changed. but there is a new sense of caution. on the one hand, the government is considering future deals with other countries. on the other hand, it is honoring what it has already signed. a foreign affairs committee gave the go ahead on friday to several nuclear cooperation treaties with georgia, russia, vietnam and south korea. it will allow exportation and transfer related technology. >> translator: it would be meaningful for japan to offer safe nuclear technology to countries that request it. japan could also monitor conditions in the recipient countries and ensure the nonproliferation and peaceful use of nuclear power. >> japan also has a duty to share the lessons learned from the accident at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. >>> the lower house of

southern japan too enjoying nice sunshine. it is pretty wet and chilly for this northwestern flank here. we've got a lot more moisture coming in off the sea of japan. it is producing quite a bit of snow as well as some gusty conditions. looks like that's going so continue throughout the day before easing off in the evening hours. instead from evening into tuesday morning we'll start seeing moisture coming in from the south. southern japan may feel a couple of showers. pulling back we see a high pressure area over northeastern china at the moment. there is going to be wetter weather coming in for the korean peninsula as well as sections of northern china tonight into tuesday. scattered showers across taiwan as well as for the philippines. then in towards the indochina peninsula. it's vietnam that's looking particularly wet in central sections will be at risk for some locally heavy downpours. as for highs on monday, really starting to look seasonal. 3 for your high in beijing. remaining at 6 in seoul. 14 for tokyo, though, with

and among the locations, japan and the unicef headquarters in new york. well they plan to time the event to coincide with the first anniversary of the disaster, march 11th, 2012. >>> and now we're joined by rachel ferguson for world weather. so rachel, it's good that all those kids are receiving psychological care as well. >> i know it is, especially at this time of year when everyone is getting together with their families, this is definitely going to be a different kind of new year's celebration for many of those kids, i'm sure. but it's good to see them making some progress. >> exactly. so what's the weather going to be like there in tohoku for the holidays? >> the weather is not going to be too bad. we've had a winter storm up towards the north, which has been bringing some blowing snow, thunderstorms, that's moving away. so into saturday we're going to see some really nice clear conditions right along the pacific edge of japan and a return to the usual wintry pattern we see. so snow just accumulating for the northwest. much of the rest of eastern asi

on the other side, any japan. this is a bird's-eye view of what the tsunami looked like -- so as approximately 2:45 p.m. in the afternoon, what we now know is that a 20-meter way -- wave hit the prefecture', ands in the course of that, located approximately 125 miles off the coast at a depth of about 20,000 feet, the eurasian plate and the pacific plate came in contact with each other. pressures had been building up since the 17th century. and in the release of that energy displaced a very large volume of water, which resulted in a a 60 meter wave traveling at the speed of an airplane. 2:45 in the afternoon, kids were in school. parents were at work. immediately be had a humanitarian situation where families were displaced. this was a 9.1 magnitude earthquake that change to the tilt of the earth's axis. for those that were in tokyo at the time, they experience, as you would expect, a severe shock. the buildings held up. the architecture and engineering held in place. there were provisions in place for tsunami. of

last month, officials from japan's transport ministry sent out an east japan rail companies visited japan's railway ministry. they pitched the speed and safety of the shinkansen. >> translator: india has a vast rail network. we will work to have shinkansen run in various parts of the country. >> reporter: india is making efforts to bolster economic growth. it is paying keen attention to the shinkansen as one way of achieving that goal. fumio sugiya, nhk world, new delhi. >> that concludes our bulletin for today. >>> the governing democratic party is reviewing a plan to raise japan's consumption tax to 10%. it is currently at 5%. the party's tax reform panel wants a new rate in place by 2015. >> translator: politicians have to make a decision. we have been in an imposing face. >> the plan was presented to a general meeting of party lawmakers on wednesday. it is part of the dpj's program to overhaul the social security and tax systems. the panel is proposing a two stage increase in the consumption tax lifting it to 8% in october of 2013 before reaching the target of 10% in april 2015. the pla

a threatening storm is approaching japan. it is said to contain blowing snow conditions from hokkaido down to japan starting tonight. we're talking about more than 50 centimeters of snow in the northern center and 30 centimeters in the western area in the next 24 hours. winds are going to be a big concern as well. the waves could reach seven meters along the coast tonight. in contrast, the pacific side will stay largely dry throughout the day today. heading back to our bigger picture. the korean peninsula and much of china will stay very dry and settled, but down towards the south still wet again across the philippines. an area of rain is moving into mindanao. an area stril struggling with the aftermath of tropical storm washi. so any additional rain is not good news here. across the west seasonal rain is continuing in vietnam as well as much of the peninsula. temperature wise very cold over the northern sections. we're expecting minus 17 in ulan bator and minus 5 in seoul. lower than average. tokyo will drop to the single di

meanwhile, japan's environment minister also made a new proposal. he called for an agreement on a new deal as early as possible even before 2020. >> translator: the important thing is that we create a framework under which all countries are committed to take action. >> reporter: he will make a speech about his proposal on wednesday. he will try to seek support for his idea through talks with major players. any proposal that does away with the kyoto protocol will be a hard sell for developing nations. it's still not clear how this new japanese approach will affect negotiations. with three days to go, countries have started to show new positions. whether this will lead to a breakthrough remains to be seen. nhk world, durbin. >>> suicide bombers have killed 60 people in two separate attacks in afghanistan. most were celebrating a muslim festival. the first went off in kabul around noon. 60 people were killed. shortly after, a bicycle bomb exploded near a shiite shrine. the two were filled with worshippers. it marks the martyrdom of the prophet muhammad

authorities in japan and elsewhere have already started investigating. this case is putting pressures on other japanese companies to reflect on their own corporate governance. >> reporting for us tonight, kaori thanks. appreciate it. >>> standard & poor's has placed nearly all eurozone nations on negative watch. the u.s. rating agency warned them their credit could be downgraded. the company's rated aaa, top rating, could lose their status. and that would make it harder for them to borrow money. s&p will reveal the sovereign debt of 15 eurozone nations including germany and france. increasing bond deals are making it difficult for governments to raise funds. analyst it's pointed to a lack of unity in the nations in their efforts to calm markets. analysts say they will wait for results of an eu summit later this week and conclude their review as soon as possible. six countries hold a aaa rating. a maximum one notch is expected for germany, the netherlands, austria, finland and luxemburg. france could be downgraded two notches. s&p recently cut ratings for