so the chief of japan association of corporate executives says the vote is coming at a time when japan is at a crossroads. and people are wondering, now, about whether it can get back on a growth track. >> translator: because of its aging population and low birth rate japan faces tough going unless the economy continues to grow. i believe the key is which party is better prepared to responsibly fulfill its pledges. >> now we also asked foreign investors gathered at a seminar in tokyo a question whether voters will support abenomics. >> and now it's time to have some more significant change because the problems in japan are very fundamental. and if they're not addressed the japanese economy will suffer very substantially. >> well, new survey shows that the monthly wages of japanese workers edged up by half a percent in october year on year. but the poll also suggests that price hikes are outpacing salary increases after workers' wages are adjusted for inflation. they actually fell for the 16th month in a row. labor ministry officials say the real wages of workers in october fell 2.8% on

to japan, american car companies, ge, ford going to japan.-- there are plenty of opportunities that the japanese are opening up in the americas. and in part, i must say, explains why the americans take so long in reacting to the bad doing from 1931 onward. it is because we are so plugged into the japanese economy. like, okay, well, what can we do here? let's hope they will behalf themselves tomorrow. okay, how about tomorrow. and it obviously never happens that way. and that's a nice little reflection of our -- of the critical ind7 u.s. and japan in the 1920s after the first world war. za >> that is a good segue into something i was looking that graphic. and obviously being very familiar with singapore and the fall of the philippines andjí dutch east indies in 1942 and how those prisoners were treated -- >> right. >> i'm curious of how the fateb and treatment of the mechanical of the surrender and treatment of the war camps and the thousands of germans that fell prisoner to the japaneseñdvmk d the first world war.r,z >> this is a wonderfulí&0

japan decides begins at 7:40 p.m. in tokyo. the polls close at 8:00, and that's when our decision desk will study nhk's exit polls and other information to project the winners. "newsline" will have the latest results and analysis. >>> the tokyo district court has rejected a suit over a cabinet decision to reinterpret the constitution. a citizen was trying to have the decision allowing japan to exercise its right to collective self-defense nullified. 75-year-old tokinao chindou is a retired civil servant for the mie prefectural government in central japan. he says the change would open the way for japan to fight other countries in the name of self-defense. he says it clearly violates war-renouncing article nine of the constitution. the presiding judge ruled the cabinet's decision on national security policy does not automatically limit tokinao chindou's rights. the judge said the plaintiff and cabinet have no specific dispute over rights and obligations. >> translator: the cabinet decision has a major impact on people's rights a

post holdings, which owns all the shares of the two financial units, japan post bank and japan post insurance. japan will sell their in phrases, initially aiming to load off half. selling one-half would allow them to launch new businesses without government approval. the government plans to use revenues from the listing to rebuild the region hit by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. japan post says it will reveal next summer the scale of shares to be put on sale. >>> a major newspaper has declared to regain trust following an uproar over the misreporting. earlier a report was issued on the issue of those known as comfort women. the paper's president and two executives held a news conference on friday. >> translator: we are deeply remorseful for falling into an inward looking attitude of acting in self-defense when we came under criticism. we pledge to carry out reforms to win back public trust. >> in august the paper retracted a series of articles from the 1980s and 1990s and based on an acts of a man and the judge ruled his story as false. they failed to apologize when they made retr

japan is asked to join.t they don't join on the same sort of, how would you say terms that the americans thought they were going to come in, when they originally asked them. what i mean by terms, basically the numbers. for me, the interesting thing about the siberian incident, shows you the degree to which japan has become the decider in asia, in an area where the powers were very interested to be plugged into. is anywhere near that. you can see, again, this is sort of in japanese, but all colored territories, the orange part here is the japanese formal empire in korea. but all the rest of this sort of brownish is where the japanese troops are sort of making their way to lake kapal. to everyone's astonishment and amazement. they're like, what are we going to do. another nice sort of visual picture of how things are happening very -- the first world war, it causes changes in asia that are quite substantial. there's a sort of certain lag in europe. of course, it happens in europe ultimately. in terms of empire

there are profiting nicely from the rise of japan and american bankers going to japan, american carmakersgoing, ge -- i mean ford going to japan and essentially investing in mancurian. this is why it takes americans long to react to the bad things japanese are doing from 1931 and on in manchuria. let's hope they'll sort of behave themselves tomorrow. how about tomorrow? obviously, it never happens that way. but i think that's a nice sort of reflection of how -- of our -- of the critical interdependence of united states and japan after the first world war. >> one more? >> that is a good segue into something -- i was looking at the graphic of the surrender of singtau, the fall of the philippines and dutch indies of 1942 and how those prisoners were treated. >> right. >> i'm curious the fate and treatment both in terms of the actual mechanics of the surrender and treatment of them in prisoner of war camps. among the thousands of germans that fell prisoner to the japanese during the first world war. >> well, this is a wonderful sort of episode in german/japanese relations that both sides like

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, actually too dry across south korea eastern locations of this korean peninsula, to see dry warnings. the dryness out towards the tropics is actually making this system t

japan controls the islands, and the government maintains they are part of japan's territory. china and taiwan claim them. soon after, coast guard officials saw chinese government ships intruding in japan's waters. there was a spike in 2013 of 188 vessels. that number dropped to 81 this year. abe's visit to yasukuni shrine last december further froze relations. the shrine honors japan's war dead. those remembered include leaders convicted of war crimes after world war ii. chinese leaders say the visit aims to glorify japan's past militarism and aggression. but this handshake looked to be the start of a fall in relations. in november, prime minister abe and president xi jinping held their first summit. >> translator: neighbors should maintain dialogue. i believe we can find ways to resolve any kind of challenges through frank discussions between leaders. >> reporter: but there's another neighbor to mend relations with, south korea. japan and south korea also have disagreements over history. north korea's nuclear and missile development is another concern. authorities in pyongya

there are profiting nicely from the rise of japan and american bankers going to japan, american carmakersgoing, ge -- i mean ford going to japan and essentially investing in mancurian. this is why it takes americans long to react to the bad things japanese are doing from 1931 and on in manchuria. let's hope they'll sort of behave themselves tomorrow. how about tomorrow? obviously, it never happens that way. but i think that's a nice sort of reflection of how -- of our -- of the critical interdependence of united states and japan after the first world war. >> one more? >> that is a good segue into something -- i was looking at the graphic of the surrender of singtau, the fall of the philippines and dutch indies of 1942 and how those prisoners were treated. >> right. >> i'm curious the fate and treatment both in terms of the actual mechanics of the surrender and treatment of them in prisoner of war camps. among the thousands of germans that fell prisoner to the japanese during the first world war. >> well, this is a wonderful sort of episode in german/japanese relations that both sides like

they discussed their review of the japan/u.s. defense cooperation guidelines, and they agreed to promote steady progress on the issue. >>> the ruble continues to drop. ron madison is here to explain what's happening to the russian currency. ron? >> yeah, gene, you know, the russian ir russian ruble has been trading at record levels. the plunge is spurring public concern. the selling continues despite the central bank's rate hike to stem the currency's tumble. the dollar rose briefly hitting 80 rubles. in the last six months the dollar has gained more than 50% against the russian currency. it did recover slightly on wednesday. around noon russian local time the dollar was trading at around 70 rubles. many local banks have briefly halted service for exchanging rubles for currency such as the dollar and the euro. some retailers selling imported goods were crowded with shoppers fearing further price rises. many shoppers were buying electric appliances. >> translator: we need to be ready for things to get much worse. >> translator: fo

they decided to downgrade japan's bonds. analysts at moody's from analysts postponing would delay budget planning. they say japan's debt reduction plan will likely be announced next year. >> we think that the, the delay adds material uncertainty to the credit profile in general and then also to the ability to reduce the government deficit. >> investors are selli ining bo this morning and the yield is higher rkts. still, they're saying their outlook is stable. they say domestic investors still have a strong appetite for bonds and that private sector profit can cover the debt. they say a are risk of a surge is low. overnight, currency traders in overseas markets moved on the announcement. they took the dollar from the lower 1.19 level to 1.17 in just three hours. right now in tokyo, the pair is trading at 118.33-34. they say the appetite has faded after moody's downgraded so, traders are buying the yen which they see as a safer asset and riskier assets like stock are being sold this morning. the anikkei trading lower. some inv

why would it be orderly in japan?,s actually to your what you are seeing is, you are bond marketn the but in the foreign exchange market, that is where the adjustment is happening. about 40% down against the dollar. very important. the yen is down more than 65% against the roman be -- the renminbi. in my opinion, don't worry about the market. but the extreme trait -- the exchange rate, big adjustment happening. of an't there a risk significant overshooting dollar-yen? >> this is my biggest worry. my biggest worry is that we get a dollar hyper cycle. if janet yellen gets this job right and you do start to ca money market curve in america, the spread between the overnight rate and the two-year rate widening out, wow. the dollar is going to be very strong and that would push enormous pressure on asia-pacific. >> what does that mean for your call on japanese equities next year? >> i'm happy on the japanese equity call. tohink earnings are going grow by 20%-20 5%. investor,ar-based you've got to hedge your currency. koll,

japan says it's part of its inherent territory. >>> political and financial leaders in japan are on a mission. they've determined, or they're determined to end years of deflation and put japan back on a path to growth. for more let's go to ramen mel yard at our business desk. >>> we have a series featuring people who have a big fwluns on japan's economy. this time we talk with heir hick u kuroda the governor of japan. in april of last year he unleashed the biggest stimulus japan has seen. it's qualitative or quantitative easing or qqe. he instructed the bank to buy up huge amounts of government bonds. he plans to drag japan out of deflation by changing the way business leaders and consumers act. he hopes to create a cycle of growth where rising prices for goods deliver more profits to firms. that will hopefully lead to better wages, more spending, higher prices, and ultimately revive the economy. our nhk senior commentator spoke with him about his policy. >> reporter: kuroda became governor of the bank in march last year. previously he was vice minister for international affairs at ja

the total investment value in japan has increased. now is a good time for investment opportunities for chinese firms. >> reporter: it's a different story for japanese companies. the main business of this firm is to make plastic products. the company started operations in december 2012. disposable spoons, cups and other items. it's representative received a directive from the tokyo head office to start with profits. set up sales routes in china and sales expanded. the yen fell to levels no one had anticipated. depreciation shrunk the firm's reven revenues. revenues down more than 10% from estimates. authorities have raised the legal minimum wage by more than 20% in the past year or so. that has compounded the company. as an urgent cost-cutting move required newmanmanry to stream line operations. it cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. >> translator: now one person can do the job. >> reporter: even so the firm's plan has bane delayed. expects the firm won't fall into the plan into the middle of next year. >> translator: the profit mar

the experts will visit japan again next month. they'll conduct a survey, and then write a report on whether the ban should stay in place. japanese officials have been urging their south korean counterparts to end the ban. they say it lacks scientific evidence. >>> japanese electric dronic parts manufacturer nidec corporation says it will buy a german company that makes automotive components. they hope the deal will help them to capture growing demand for parts for eco-friendly vehicles. the executives say they have agreed to buy the german company. they hold the second largest share in europe for automotive pumps, coolants and lubricants. the officials have not disclosed the acquisition cost. sources say the price will be in the range of several hundred million dollars. the japanese executives say they want to work to the with the german company to develop high performance electric pumps for electric as well as hybrid vehicles. >>> okay. that is going to do it for biz tonight. let's get a recap of the markets. >>> politicians in j

japan makes up a bigger share of japan's trade settlement for asia than the thai bat and south koreanon. >> so with china's economic growth and expansion of trade enhancing the profile of chinese yuan? >> that's correct. the chinese government is promoting internationalization of the yuan, making it easier to use abroad. that's another big factor. china has also been strengthening financial cooperation with the other countries. direct trading between the chinese and south korean currencies began this month. such moves are not limited to asia and accelerating in european countries. in october they gang issuing yuan-dominated bonds. similar moves were also approved in germany and france. as china's economy continues to grow, several countries in europe plan to expand trade in financial transaction with china using the yuan as their point of contact. they hope this will lead to revitalization of the economies. >> so why is china promoting the internationalization of the yuan? >> to minimize risks for chinese firms inside china. china is also trying to put the brakes on u.s. dominance of

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 the western areas from california, towards br

japan controls the senkaku islands. china and taiwan claim them. the japanese government claims they are a part of japan's territory in terms of history and international law. it says there's no issue of sovereignty to be resolved over them. the surveyed response was 60.9%. among those who responded was 74.5% who indicate an interest in the islands. that's up eight points from last year's survey. those who showed little interest fell to 23.8%. the survey asked what aspect of the islands they're interested in. the majority had 63.3% had japan easter tor yal rights to the islands. the second answer was the historical background chlgt the survey asked about the tack shim islands in the south of japan. the japanese government maintains the islands are an inherent part of japan's territory. it says south korea is illegally occu occupying them. the survey shows that 66.9% are interested in the islands. that's a drop of 4.2 points from last year's survey. 30.7% of respondents expressed little or no concern. >>> managers at plants across japan are seeing l

allowing japan to defend closely related countries that come under attack. and he'll seek a final decision on restarting nuclear reactors, which have passed safety standards. abe also said he will work to earn the public's understanding about amending the constitution. the ldp's stance is that amending the constitution is necessary to strengthen japan's defense. but i think the prime minister's tough priority is delivering on his promise to revive the world's third largest economy. gdp has slumped consecutively. a hike in the consumption tax from 5% to 8% in april is largely to blame. that's why abe decided to put off a plan to raise the tax again to 10% until 2017. abe mentioned new economic measures to get the economy moving. japanese voters are now waiting to see if he'll do that successfully. the coalition led by abe's liberal democrats had a sizable majority ahead of the vote. abe could have continued to govern japan, work on the economy, and delay the consumption tax increase. all without sending voters to the polls. but his public approval rating had

escort vessels from japan's maritime self-defense force also joined the flotilla. their participation in the albany event underlined the close relations between japan and australia. following a recent reassessment of its national security, australia is taking steps to strengthen its navy. one reason for this is increased activity by chinese navy vessels. at present australia has six submarines which were built with the support of sweden and other countries. however, from the start, the submarines were found to have problems, especially noise levels. australia is very interested in the latest japanese submarine technology. it has not stated how far it will go in requesting technical assistance but australian media are speculating that the government plans to buy submarines built in japan. if japan were to produce submarines for australia, that will be its first sale of completed weaponry to another country since its guidelines in exporting weaponry were revised. [ chanting ] there is fierce opposition in australia to the idea of buying finished submarines. critics s

the bank of japan will look at that. also people are read about deflation in japan.nternational prices are falling and that will push prices down. i think outright declines in consumer price inflation looks off. we think the bank of korea will hold firm. for most of the region inflation is very low. their situation is different to everywhere else. probably not an aggressive hiking cycle. almost certainly one today. >> lots of data coming out this week. thank you for giving us a quick preview of that. let's take a look at some other stories we are following. john is here with the details. >> major banks need as much as $25 billion in next are capital. the country's top lenders now hold about 10%. that compares to at least 12% of the world's biggest and safest banks. have broken out after a woman claimed she was raped by an uber driver. the taxi operates in 11 cities. cost cuts and feel prices are helping margins. analysts arenine still foreseeing more. -- foreseeing searches for qantas. >> government offices and schools are closed in manila as a typhoon heads for the

they plan to continue their survey in the sea of japan.hey want to determine how much gas is there with the goal of starting commercial production. officials say their studies suggest nearly 1,000 sites contain deposits of methane hydrate. >>> japan's prime minister shinzo abe has delivered a message to business leaders and says that continuing to raise the salary of the workers is the key to creating a strong economy. abe spoke at a meeting of the japan business federation. he referred to last week's agreement to make an effort to raise wages. >> translator: i hope leaders of the business community will make visible moves based on this new agreement. >> abe said members of his new cabinet will finalize an economic package on saturday. the plan is to stimulate consumption and revitalize local economies. he said officials hope to promote regular la tear reforms in the employment and energy sectors. bank of japan governor also spoke at the meeting. >> translator: companies that have high earnings need to use the money actively. >> to increas

japan alliance. the pentagon plans to set up similar sites in north america and europe. >>> the rouble sharp decline and now ron madison has this story. >> he's talked to the public about the situation and sounding a positive tone while remaining cautious. vladimir putin says russia's economy will rebound and rouble will stabilize. he's warn had the could take two years for that to happen. he appeared before 1200 reporters for the end of the year news conference. >> translator: under the most unfavorable external economic scenario, this situation may go on for about two years. >> the russian president referred to the devastating impact of plunging crude oil prices on the rouble. he defended the decision to protect the currency. he says russia must diversify to reduce dependence on oil a major export and source of income for the state. investors may have been worried by putin's speech. they signalled they'll lift interest rates next year. investors took this as a cue and went on a buyings spree. that

that means a strong corporate sector in japan and a strength in the consumer sector, that is where japans going to shine in 2015. let you go, i know you could not vote in the weekend elections, but if you could have, who would you have voted for? >> i think at this point for japan, policy consistency is the key issue. i think the endorsement to the prime minister maintaining the grip on parliamentary power, i think the lep deserves to win. you did of course see the communist party doubled their vote and you see the opposition democratic party increased by more than 10 seats, so there are rumblings in the grassroots of japan, but overall, the premise or has a strong grip on power and that is confirmed and parliamentary procedures will work in favor of a stable and prosperous market. >> always good to talk to you. up, even james bond couldn't fight off the sony hackers. more on that when we return. ♪ >> sony hackers are threatening to send an early christmas if in their next data dump. the message contained links to what me -- what may be the seventh archive of document comes stolen from t

the system is currently moving over northern japan. people in hokkaido have seen heavy snow since tuesday morning and now they're dealing with a blizzard. authorities in the region have cancelled more than 300 flights. >>> time now for a check of the weather. our meteorologist robert speta has the details and more. >> let's talk about this severe storm system which is now rolling across much of japan. we have been seeing numerous traffic delays out here. many of the trains have been cancelled especially if northern japan, most of the shinkansen trains have been shut down. and numerous flights on the ground here at this time and a lot of the planes that are in the air moving over japan being diverted to try to avoid this storm system. i want to show you why we are not seeing planes get off the ground. 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

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 hit the militants' finance and stops foreign fighters from joining them. costsunders of hong kong occupied movement -- hong kong's occupy movement surrendered to police. up for a bitter election cycle. snap elections will be held on march 17.

in japan, even though i watched japan for more than 20 years. they are talking about anti-japan, korea bashing. but they begin talking about anti-koreans in japan. kind of the mood of the society is not that much bright. also, i don't know whether abe can deal with the comfort woman issue very smartly, considering the domestic and political context in japan. so three factors will influence the future course of korea relations. first of all, domestic politics. we talk about that in the area of domestic politics. korea relations, a story about domestic politics. so you can hardly get away from it. whether korea will celebrate the anniversary of a korea-japan normalization, or celebrate the anniversary of liberation from japan. we don't know. so that's one factor. the other factor is china. whether china will continue to play history card and then try to cut the korea-japan ties. or come up with kind of a trilateral format created in china. so my question to the professor is what is china's take on the promotion of the trilateral summit meeting amo

japan is declining population.to imagine in an integrated world economy if it were isolated it would be harder to deal with the demographic trends. the second point i want to make concerns structural reform. all of the economies have some demographic trend toward slow down. you can counteract that at least to structural reform. i look around the world. everyone has an agenda of structural reform. i don't have time to go into detail. let me mention brief examples starting with my own economy to be fair. the u.s. economy is now recovering well. a lot of positive things for the future. it has a lot of problems. the one i would highlight has serious infrastructure deficiencies. the u.s. may have the advantage of growing labor force but if we don't do a better job with infrastructure we won't get the potential economic benefit from that. our problems with infrastructure are a mix of problems of regulation and political paralysis. there is finance and the investments payer for themselves. it's really a matter of how you

hong kong authorities. >>> the head of the japan business federation has sent a positive signal to japan's largest labor union which plans to demand another wage hike next year. the chairman was speaking to reporters on wednesday. officials at the union group say they will seek a basic pay raise of at least 2% in next year's negotiations. they made the same demand last spring. >> basically it's up to the companies to make the decisions. but it's vital for the economy to pull japan out of deflation and create a favorable economic cycle. so companieses with stronger herbings should use the profit for raising wages and hiring for workers. >> he said the federation may include a plan to accept union demands in the basic policy for next year's wage negotiations. the employer's federation chief said a wage hike would depend on the type of industries or scope of businesses. but companies with enough capacity to give pay raises should do so. i will have more of the headlines for you next hour in business. i will leave you now with a check on markets. >>> the myanmar national symphony orchestra gav

japan claims the four islands that make up the northern territories, russia controls them. shinzo abe met the mayors of five of hokkaido's municipalities to discuss the issue. mayor shinsuke hasegawa said abe has met with russian president vladimir putin seven times. he says relations between japan and russia are at their best since the end of world war ii. hasegawa said he hopes the japanese government will resolve the issue within the next few years. abe said he and putin agreed last year to speed up negotiations in order to sign a bilateral peace treaty. >> translator: it is my mission, as a politician, and japanese prime minister, to find a solution. i will tackle this issue with firm dedication. >> abe said talks have been proceeding in various levels. in addition to discussions with putin, the country's foreign ministers have met and so have bureau chiefs from their foreign ministries. >>> pope francis has called for greater international effort to eliminate nuclear weapons. he also spoke out against discrimination based on a poor understanding of the world's faith. i

they say the two left japan for turkey in early november. they've learned the couple went to a town near the border with syria, and they say where the pair went from there is still unknown. officials in japan had earlier contacted the couple who they say intended to travel to islamic state controlled areas. they say the japanese woman and her french algerian husband are both muslims. they say the pair reportedly wanted to help people displaced by the civil war in syria. they tried to persuade them to give up their travel plans through the french embassy in tokyo. >>> people in indonesia are trying to make sure children know what to do the next time disaster strikes. more than 220,000 people lost their lives in the indian ocean tsunami of 2004. many of them died because they didn't know how to react. now, indonesians are getting advice from survivors of japan's march 2011 earthquake and tsunami. nhk world has the story. >> reporter: yuko matsumoto is a journalist who has reported from disaster areas around the world. on a visit to fukushima s

people in many parts of japan have dealt with a severe winter storm. robert speta has the update and more. >> we've been seeing a lot of heavy snowfall and there are some gusty winds. you could still see winds around 100 kilometers per how, plus more snowfall, but it is tapering off. we are still seeing the impacts here. take a look at these storm totals with this system back from tuesday into thursday and soon on 102 centimeters has come down. actually, 105 here and back towards western portions of honchu. now, remember, this did not fall on green grass out here. much of this fell on top of more snow, so the snow depth in some areas, nearly double and soon on 216 centimeters of snow now on the ground. let's go to some video we have coming out of out of this area. this resulted in a landslide here on friday morning. it caught about 200 people on a highway. this is a resort area, a small town. it is known for its -- and snowfall. a lot of ski resorts in this area of japan, but you get too much snow in a short period of time, it causes problems. this tot

from japan we don't know. so that is one factor. the other factor is china, whether china will continue to play history card and try to cut the korea-japan, the ties. or korea-japan-china will come up with a kind of trilateral format, korea, japan, china. my question to professor lee, what is the china's take on promotion of the trilateral summit meeting among japan, korea and china. so i want to hear your view on that. finally i think u.s. issue will play a role. i don't think u.s. can determine this situation but as for the comfort issue i think the u.s. can take much, much stronger position on that and abe will do it smartly. thank you. >> thank you, professor park. i would like to test the tolerance of the before lunch but i always have some two questions. one question, why are, chinese pressure on north korea lead to destabilization? if pyongyang believes, beijing is serious, would it not cooperate and reap benefits of the western economic aid? maybe somebody could make some soness. -- some response. or t

didn't know they made it. >> is it big in japan? >> japanese whiskys lag far behind in terms of global market share. raising their profile is key to boosting sales. he is a marketing specialist at the london office. together with zar and perric, a senior member of the u.k. bartender's guild, he organizes more than 400 tasting events a year to promote japanese whisky. about 70 whisky lovers attend this tasting. they want the connoisseurs to try japanese whisky and then spread its excellence by word of mouth. >> our aim is to gain more japanese whisky fans. he explains that the blessings of nature allow them to create the finest quality. he stresses the importance of water, a key ingredient. >> fantastic, really doing a good job. most of the whiskys he presented were sold. he wrapped them japanese style for taking home. >> here, people tend to ask if japanese is delicious. we urge them to -- we believe if we win recognition here, our whiskys can spread globally. >> winning over british consumers is the test to becoming number one in t

so this year japan is likely to grow just .04, 0.5%.his growth front he has a lot more to do. >> we have seen japan slip back in to vision. so is abe gnomics working in your view? >> reporter: as i said it's partially working. there are many factors he has to be accounted for. so on this growth front and causing recession by i would say untiming -- untimely tax like this april. i think that was a mistakal but i think he has actually corrected that mistake by canceling the initially scheduled tax time next year. in the growth front prime minister abe is on a good track for the next 12 months. >> we have also seen the fiscal stimulus, public spending, the reforms, the third error of abe gnomics do seem to have been on hold somewhat. some say the efforts have been piecemeal so far. do you see him going ahead with the reforms? >> reporter: i think it's difficult to make population swallow pains. structural reform attends to bring about something on some part of the nation, but i think winning a huge majority in this election, he should have

of western japan.his is called sea-effect snow. strong cold air coming in from the continent while picking up moisture, snow clouds form over the northwestern side of the country from hokkaido towards 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

japan has not been able to put its goals on the table yet. the country's energy policies are under review since the 2011 nuclear accident. >> translator: japan hopes to play a bigger role in building confidence among developing and industrialized nations. >> japanese delegates are trying to emphasize that leaders in tokyo are providing technical and financial support to developing nations. >>> three japanese born winners of the nobel prize in physics are spending their time meeting with the public one day before they're to receive the award. the trio has earned the please te jus honor for the work on blue light emitting diode. the professors visited the science city in sweden. they observed math and computer classes at a high school and watched robots built by students. >> they then visited a shopping mall and took a look at some l.e.d. toys made by children. >> this is incredible. >> oh, good. >> the other winner a university professor visited the nobel museum in stockholm. he followed the tradition of nobel laureates signing a chair at the

kim chang-ju, nhk world, seoul. >>> japan's leaders are in a race against time. the proportion of elderly is increasing faster than any other country, and the birth rate remains low. since 2007, the number of deaths each year has outpaced the number of births. the crisis is hitting home, and not just in small towns with declining industries, but in the heart of the capital. nhk world's jun yotsumoto reports. >> reporter: toshima city in tokyo is bustling. more than 2 million people come and go at this train station, one of the world's busiest. the area is known as japan's hub culture center, attracting many visitors, even from abroad. many young singles move in from across the country, and like many other regions, the population here is still on the rise. but a nationwide demographic study indicates that won't be the case for long. it suggests toshima's population of women of child-bearing age will decline to almost half by 2040. that means less and less children will be born here. mayor yukio takano was taken aback by the results. >> translator: it was a big sho

japan decides is focusing on the key issues ahead of election day. abe enacted a last minute bill on regional revitalization before he resolves the lower house. they have been searching for a way to solve the demographic dlim ma and the crisis is hitting rural areas the hardest. many voters there are looking to change the way the election may bring. >> farmers in the western prefecture are known as the top producers of various kinds of fruit. but their industry is shrinking. >> i don't have young ones to take over my business, so my wife and i are the only ones to do the harvest. >> farmers have been growing oranges for hundreds of years. the farmers here are now over 65 and many more are quitting. that just one of the issues affecting this population. more than one million people used to live in the prefecture. over the past decade, the population has decreased by 7%. deaths are outpacing births and the young people are moving to cities. farmers who are carrying on say their income has become unstable, mainly because fruit consumption nationwide is