before transport resumes, miyagi will test all cattle that had ate the contaminated feed. blanket testing will be conducted at farms where straw feed has yet to be inspected. other farms are required to test only the first animals they intend to ship out. >> translator: i've waited for the ban to be lifted, so i'm very happy. we want to show that miyagi beef is safe to eat. >> a ban on beef cattle shipments is still in place in three other prefectures surrounding fukushima daiichi. >>> two governors from japan's devastated northeastern region have visited taiwan in a bid to boost tourism. the tohoku area has seen a major drop in the number of foreign tourists since the march 11th earthquake and tsunami. governor norihisa satake of akita prefecture and mieko yoshimura of yamagata prefecture were at a gathering of taiwan's tourism and airline industries in taipei on thursday on a promotion campaign. the two governors spoke about the frost-covered trees in the winter, the hot springs and the local delicacies. they also proposed new package tours to the tohoku region and asked

miyagi will test all cattle that ate the contaminated feed. testing will also be on straw that is yet to be inspected. other farms are required to test only the first animals they intend to ship out. >> translator: i've waited for the ban to be lifted. so i'm very happy. we want show that miyagi beef is safe to eat. >> a ban on shipment of cattle is still in effect in three other prefectures around fukushima daiichi. >>> mien man's suu kyi has had its first meeting with the president. the meeting is the first step towards the political dialogue. suu kyi spoke for an hour with the president. the government has not disclosed what they discussed. myanmar's military regime was displaced by a civilian government this year following a general election that excluded suu kyi. she was under house arrest for seven years until just after the general election. when she resumed political activity earlier this month, the government apparently decided to take a hands-off approach. it issued a statement saying it would cooperate and have dialogue with her par

flower altars have been set up across the area in miyagi prefecture. the tsunami and ensuing fires damaged 9,500 homes in the city. >> translator: i feel that the five months have passed quickly. we still have a long way to go. >> on thursday flower altars were set up at 13 locations including schools and fish markets. many residents were seen praying at the elementary school. one of the evacuation sites. >> translator: my daughter is still missing. i hope we can find her soon. she left two children behind. >> the earthquake and tsunami killed nearly 15,700 people and 4,700 are missing. the survivors are still struggling to get their lives back to normal. more than 87,000 people have lost their homes due to the disaster or have been forced to evacuate by the crisis at the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant. 90%% of the plant temporary housing units have been completed. some remain vacant because they are in remote areas. more than 140,000 people in miyagi prefecture have lost their jobs but there have only been about 86,000 job offers. over 700 households

they travel to miyagi prefecture that suffered massive damage from the tsunami. steven nessen is a journalist in new york. he first got to know japan last year when he visited okinawa to report on the u.s. military bases there. >> how are the people who live here affected and what is day to day life for them? it's stuff i'd like to know. >> reporter: the journalists met with some students at an elementary school. their local school was severely damaged by the tsunami. so they are now attending classes at another school nearby. before leaving for japan, they called on american elementary school children to write messages of encouragement. they received around 7,000 letters from all across the united states and brought many of these messages with them. they handed out the letters to each of the children. >> translator: i'm happy to know that people in america have been thinking of us. >> translator: i'd like to send a reply thanking them and saying we're doing our best to stay strong. >> reporter: the next day the journalists visited ishinomaki where nearly 6,000 p

. >> reporter: ise and nita visited the hall in miyagi prefecture together to ask for more help. other parents with children with serious disabilities joined them. they asked the city to make temporary housing barrier free and ensure disabled people would receive the necessary care in the event another disaster hits. as mothers of children with serious disabilities, both ise and nita made it their mission to speak up for all families who face these challenges. >> translator: i think that if things in our everyday lives were built based on the needs of disabled children, it would create a comfortable and livable environment for everyone. the same applies to disaster preparation. >> reporter: enabling the lives of disabled people in the region is an important issue. the problems of most vulnerable people must not be ignored and steps should be made to help them. nhk world, miyagi. >>> "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

. >> reporter: ise and nita visited the hall in miyagi prefecture together to ask for more help. other parents with children with serious disabilities joined them. they asked the city to make temporary housing barrier free and ensure disabled people would receive the necessary care in the event another disaster hits. as mothers of children with serious disabilities, both ise and nita made it their mission to speak up for all families who face these challenges. >> translator: i think that if things in our everyday lives were built based on the needs of disabled children, it would create a comfortable and livable environment for everyone. the same applies to disaster preparation. >> reporter: enabling the lives of disabled people in the region is an important issue. the problems of most vulnerable people must not be ignored and steps should be made to help them. nhk world, miyagi. >>> "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

the tsunami completely upended life in the town located in the miyagi prefecture. five months later, not much improved. even now, almost 500 people live in shelters. this junior high school was built on elevated ground in the center of town. even so, it barely escaped the tsunami. earthquake damage forced classes to be stopped. then a series of aftershocks further interrupted classes. to get back on schedule, the town offered supplementary lessons for three mornings. 11 college students studying to be teachers helped conduct the classes. one of them is a fourth year student at the miyagi university of education. >> i kept thinking about how i could help the disaster victims. then i saw this opportunity and decided to go for it. >> although there are four classes all year towards first and second year students, she and her fellow student educators help teach english, japanese and math. r mhonclude ging students memos with key points to help students answer questions. this first year student enrolled in the supplementary classes. after living in the school gymnasium

they travel to miyagi prefecture that suffered massive damage from the tsunami. steven nessen is a journalist in new york. he first got to know japan last year when he visited okinawa to report on the u.s. military bases there. >> how are the people who live here affected and what is day to day life for them? it's stuff i'd like to know. >> reporter: the journalists met with some students at an elementary school. their local school was severely damaged by the tsunami. so they are now attending classes at another school nearby. before leaving for japan, they called on american elementary school children to write messages of encouragement. they received around 7,000 letters from all across the united states and brought many of these messages with them. they handed out the letters to each of the children. >> translator: i'm happy to know that people in america have been thinking of us. >> translator: i'd like to send a reply thanking them and saying we're doing our best to stay strong. >> reporter: the next day the journalists visited ishinomaki where nearly 6,000 p

a company executive from miyagi prefecture said he hopes the chinese market willn poan business inhe future. >> translator: even though this is the first time, g a very positive response. >> the number of soo bullying cases in japan increased in the 10chl yr for first time inouars. an education ministry survey revealed the number ofulin cases recognized in elementary, junior high and senior hh schools rose 3.5% from the previous yr t 75,295 ses. w t first increase since 2006 when the definition of bullying w riedo include all cases, in which a student lter s was being bullied. the review flod iree in suicides by victims. 26% of the cases we veed thugquestionnaires, 23% reported by the victim and in 20 oth cases a teacher noticed the bullying. theintr h bnrgg schools nationwide to use questionnaires to detect buyi. >>> welcome back to your weather upteor etasia, we've been keeping a close eye on a tropical storm system. it is getting close to the center of the storm towards t islands of okinawa. still maintaining that strength and a strongypon aill stay that strength as it heads tohe

professor hiakowa studied geological layers on the coast which runs between iwate and miyagi prefectures. he found five layers are composed of rounded stones. he believes they were carried there by a tsunami. the strata are situated above volcanic ash. they were likely to have been gradually formed with black soil. he also discovered six layers of the same kind in miyako iwate prefecture and believes the most was by an tsunami caused by an earthquake 115 years ago. traces of a huge tsunami by the earthquake which struck over 1,000 years ago having found inland in miyagi and fukushima prefectur prefectures. >> translator: based on these findings, a major tsunami hits the region every 1,000 years. as a scientist, i regret that we had not discovered this earlier. we must examine historical records. >> he is expected to submit a report on his findings. >>> tokyo electric power company plans to shut down a reactor in niigata for regular inspection on tuesday. this means 74% of japan's nuclear reactors will be out of service. when tepco shuts down the reactor of the nuclear power plant, 40 out

but thousands of people are still living in public facilities in miyagi prefecture. the shelter at a high school gymnasium in the town of yamada in iwate prefecture shut its doors on wednesday. at one point 103,000 people were living there. now all the evacuees have moved into temporary housing units. >> translator: it was a big effort. it took a long time. >> most of the shelters in fukushima have also closed. the largest one in the prefecture vut on wednesday. about 2,500 people lived in this building in the city of koriyuma at one time. it got so crowded there was barely enough room for everyone to lie down. >> translator: i really hope i'll be happy living in temporary housing. >> it's a different story in miyagi prefecture, though. authorities say they won't finish building 22,000 temporary housing units until mid-september. about 3,700 people are still saying in nearly 140 shelters. 1,800 of those evacuees live in ishinomaki. about 80% of the city's planned temporary housing units have been built so far but only three-quarters of them are occupied. one problem

the ratio for miyagi and fukushima prefectures stood at 62. iwate was at 55. job offers from reconstruction businesses are rising but the situation remains grim in badly damaged coastal areas. >>> a separate government survey shows temporary employees accounted for nearly 40% of private sector staff last year. that is at a record high. the labor ministry polled about 10,000 offices and establishments with five or more workers as of october last year. the results show that the average ratio of temporary staff including contract workers and part timers stood at 38.7%. that's up nearly one percentage point from the previous survey conducted in 2007 and marks the highest ratio since the polling began in 1987. by business time, the figure topped 72% at hotels and restaurants while it exceeded 50% for movie theaters and retailers. nearly 44% of the respondents cited reductions in salaries as a reason for hiring temporary staff. over 27% said they aim to cut social security expenses. the labor ministry says firms will likely use more temporary workers in the future d

the two-day conference starts on tuesday in sendai miyagi prefecture which was hit hard by the march 11th earthquake and tsunami. participants met at a reception on monday evening. about 100 experts and government officials from 18 countries and regions are attending the conference. >> translator: people in the prefecture will do all they can for early reconstruction. we would like to ask for further support for their rebuilding efforts. >> state secretary for foreign affairs takahashi said earthquakes hit many parts of the asia pacific region every ye. he said he wants to exchange information on initial responses to quakes, as well as reconstruction after disasters. he added that the government wants to develop a plan in which people in a wider area can work together to minimize damage. during the meeting, participants will talk out the importance of a corporate plan which would enable firms to quickly resume their operations in the face of natural disasters and infectious diseases. >>> the operator of the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant says it has detected 10,000 millisiever

but the earthquake and tsunami on march 11th completely up ended life in the town in miyagi prefect purp more than five months later, not much has improved. even now, almost 500 people live in shelters. this junior high school was built on elevated ground in the center of town. even so it barely escaped the tsunami. forced classes to be stopped. then a series of aftershocks further interrupted classes. to get back on schedule, the town offered supplementary lessons for three mornings. 11 college students studying to be teachers helped conduct the classes. one of them is shiho, a fourth year student at the miyagi university of education. >> translator: i kept thinking about how i could help the disaster victims. then i saw this opportunity, and decided to go for it. >> reporter: although there are four classes all geared towards first and second year students, she and her fellow student educators helped teach english, japanese and math. >> reporter: her methods included giving students memos with key points to help students answer questions. yohei, a first year student, enrolled in the su

also on tuesday he will visit the northeastern prefecture of miyagi to deliver a message to disaster victims at sendai airport. u.s. troops helped remove debris from the airport which was badly damaged by the tsunami. biden has been on an asian tour visiting china and mongolia. in china he had talks with xi jinping. >>> it's been more than five months since the tsunami and nuclear crisis in march. about 4,600 people are still reported missing. now, the town of okuma is where the fukushima daiichi plant is located. because of the radiation levels, it is a no entry zone. one of the town's residents is among the messing. a 7-year-old girl. despite the restrictions, una's father never gave up the search. but recently he made a painful decision. >> reporter: desperate for news, one man searches for his family missing in the tsunami. this is norio kimura. he's una's father. he was looking for his family. three people from his family of six have not been seen since the disaster. kimura was unable to return to his hometown of okuma because of the accident. so he put up notices at convenience

iwate is the third prefecture to face a beef shipment ban following mo following miyagi and fukushima. require the inspection of all beef from farmers who shipped with high levels of cesium or used tainted rice straw. iwate ships about 36,000 head of cattle a year. >>> "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 you insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead" examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline. >>> in new york, the dollar traded at a near-record low versus the yen despite president barack obama's announcement of a deal on the debt ceiling. the green slumped to 76.1 yen on monday. fueled by continuing speculation of a possible downgrade of u.s. bonds and u.s. manufacturing figures showing a slowdown in activity. it was the worst fall since march 17th when the dollar was at 76.25 yen. market observers say it rem

also on tuesday he will visit the northeastern prefecture of miyagi to deliver a message to disaster victims at sendai airport. u.s. troops helped remove debris from the airport which was badly damaged by the tsunami. biden has been on an asian tour visiting china and mongolia. in china he had talks with xi jinping. >>> it's been more than five months since the tsunami and nuclear crisis in march. about 4,600 people are still reported missing. now, the town of okuma is where the fukushima daiichi plant is located. because of the radiation levels, it is a no entry zone. one of the town's residents is among the messing. a 7-year-old girl. despite the restrictions, una's father never gave up the search. but recently he made a painful decision. >> reporter: desperate for news, one man searches for his family missing in the tsunami. this is norio kimura. he's una's father. he was looking for his family. three people from his family of six have not been seen since the disaster. kimura was unable to return to his hometown of okuma because of the accident. so he put up notices at convenience

he arrived in miyagi prefecture on tuesday. it served as a hub for u.s. forces helping to bring relief supplies to the region after the march 11 disaster. >> i'm also here to honor the incredible spirit of the japanese people. the american people are also proud and honored. they're proud to continue doing whatever you would like us to do as you rebuild. >> japan later visited one of the areas hit hardest by the tsunami and offered flowers for the victims. he spoke to a family whose house was swept away and asked about the situation at the time of the disaster and their lives now in temporary housing. >>> the japanese government has compiled a basic plan to decontaminate areas in fukushima prefecture effected radioactivity from the accident at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. the government said tuesday that it plans to cut the contamination levels in the area by almost half over the next two years. under the plan, houses will be decontaminated with measures including cleaning drain pipes and gardens pruned and weeded. also says houses in areas c

also on tuesday, he will visit the northeastern prefecture of miyagi to deliver a message to disaster victims at sendai airport. u.s. troops helped remove debris from the airport which was badly damaged by the tsunami. biden has been on an asian tour visiting china and mongolia. in china he held talks with vice president xi jinping, the man expected to become the country's next leader. >>> the dollar is hovering in the upper 76 yen range in cautious trading in tokyo on monday. earlier in the day the greenback had rebounded briefly to the lower 77 yen level after reaching a historic level of 75.95 yen in new york on friday. sources say market players are becoming cautious about possible intervention by the bank of japan. it's now changing hands to 76.76 yen to 76 yen and the euro at 110.76 to 79 yen. >>> japanese finance ministry said this morning that the yen's one-sided appreciation appears to are strengthening in recent market trading. he hinted japanese monetary authorities may intervene. >> translator: the market, even more closely than before, and we'll take decisive steps if nec

fukushima prefecture saw about a 50% rise, iwate was up by more than 26% and miyagi prefecture had a 22% increase in earthquake insurance contracts. the organization says that the number of new contracts is likely to keep increasing for the time being. >>> here are the latest market figures. >>> tuesday's magnitude 5.8 earthquake in the u.s. state of virginia has cut electricity to a nuclear power plant, prompting it to be placed on alert status. the east coast rarely ha earthqkes. tudas akwathfirst with a mnitude of re than 5.0 vginia sinc1897. the two reactor north anna per stion loted 24 kileters from the quake epicenter shut down autatically after the power loss. thalert stat ithe send lowest of four emergency classifications set by the u.s. nuclear regulatory commission. the watchdog says the shutdown is safe and poses no risk as power is being provided by emergency diesel generators and the plant's cooling system is operating properly. the commission continues to monitor the situation as one of the generators stopped working due to a coolant leak. >>> japan's welfare ministry s

before transport resumes, miyagi will test all cattle that had ate the contaminated feed. blanket testing will be conducted at farms where straw feed has yet to be inspected. other farms are required to test only the first animals they intend to ship out. >> translator: i've waited for the ban to be lifted, so i'm very happy. we want to show that miyagi beef is safe to eat. >> a ban on beef cattle shipments is still in place in three other prefectures surrounding fukushima daiichi. >>> two governors from japan's devastated northeastern region have visited taiwan in a bid to boost tourism. the tohoku area has seen a major drop in the number of foreign tourists since the march 11th earthquake and tsunami. governor norihisa satake of akita prefecture and mieko yoshimura of yamagata prefecture were at a gathering of taiwan's tourism and airline industries in taipei on thursday on a promotion campaign. the two governors spoke about the frost-covered trees in the winter, the hot springs and the local delicacies. they also proposed new package tours to the tohoku region and asked

. >>> people returning home for the holidays are looking for their family's belongings in miyagi prefecture. the city has been displaying items washed away from the tsunami, with the help of volunteers since may. the photo albums, photos, bags and mortuary tablets have been divided up atowarding to the areas where they found. people who evacuated to a remote location visited the venue on sunday. they look closely at the photos that were partially covered by mold or look for names on the bags as they try to find items belonging to relatives or friends. >> i found my father's photo. we've been united at last. >>> newsline is the place to turn to for the latest on japan post march 11th. we have two segments, offering two unique perspectives. nuclear watch brings insight and impact on the crisis. and the road ahead examine japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. >>> myanmar's pro-democracy leader made her first political trip since her house arrest ended last november. she visited bago on sunday. senior officials of the national league for democracy which has joined her on the one-day trip. the