until last year, he worked at a brewery in miyagi prefecture. march 11, he was spreading the steamed rice when the massive earthquake hit. >> i was in the rice culturing chamber. the rice was spilled all over and the steamer was smashed. there was no way we could carry on. it was a sad day when i was told i'd have to look for another place to make sake. >> he was hired by this brewery and started to work as brew master in november. he has a team of five working with him. fermenting sake has to be kept at the right temperature. if it's not warm enough, the yeast won't produce alcohol. if it gets too warm, the sake's flavor and aroma are effected. they use a metal cylinder filled with hot water to keep the mash at a constant temperature. the sake slowly ferments. finally it is time for the sake to be pressed. he does it the old fashioned way without using a mechanical press. he has put his whole being into making this premium sake. >> please try it. splendid. with its rounded taste and lingering flavor, it is even better than the brewery owner exp

this is followed by a fall of 2.3% in iwate and 1.7% in miyagi. the ministry says the accident at the fukushima daiichi plant is to blame for the decline in the number of kindergarteners and elementary school children in the prefektures. it says smaller children are more vulnerable to radiation and are likely to have been sent to other prefectures. >>> the warm spell in tokyo ended and residents are again dealing with cold weather. >> hello. time now for your weather update. let's begin with japan. we are looking at a typical wintry weather pattern. what this means is cold temperatures nationwide and snowy weather on the western side. we're expecting more than 20 centimeters from hokkaido down to niigata prefecture. and winds are picking up. so that is leading to blowing snow conditions. and the risk of avalanches are getting extremely high here. but most of the pacific side will remain largely dry today. but the exceptions will be the tokai area. there may be accumulating snow. as for the korean peninsula, the southwestern corner will see snow sh

the city of sendai in miyagi prefecture will host the two-day meeting. some of the other sessions will be held in fukushima and iwate. government officials will invite representatives of countries that have experienced large scale disasters, including thailand, indonesia and haiti. japanese delegates will report on the march disaster and on rescue efforts. participants will discuss recovery, reconstruction and prevention. organizers plan to take them on tours of the region. government officials plan to use the results of the discussions for a u.n. meeting on disaster prevention planned for 2015. >>> parents of fukushima prefecture now can monitor in real time radiation levels at schools, parkses and other places frequented by their children. the education ministry launched the system for sharing data from 2,700 monitoring sites on its website. users can choose a place on a map and check the latest radiation levels there. choosing fukushima city brings up a list of 368 monitoring sites and their current readings. the system can also show average radiation

. >>> some fisheries in miyagi prefecture still can't shake off the effects of the tsunami. first they acknowledge their plants stopped production. now they ran into a hitch that prevents them restarting operations. this is slowing recovery in the region where the long term economy depends on the seafood industry. >> the disaster last spring left its mark on ishinomaki. it took the lives of many residents and left the city in ruins. factories that process seafood so badly damaged, they couldn't operate. now the industry is trying to get back on its feet, but it's proving difficult. takashi yokoyama owns a seafood processing company. he is building a new plant where the old one stood. he expects to get production rolling again in august. he offered jobs to his former employees, but many turned him down. a lot of them had found other jobs. >> translator: some now live with relatives in tokyo. others moved to sendai, the nearest big city. they found new jobs. at least half my former employees are not coming back to work for me. >> he's found it impossible to hire employees to r

an additional 50 centimeters is possible in miyagi prefecture over the next 24 hours. ongoing snow could raise the risk of avalanches and create traffic disturbances. as we pull back, a high pressure system is bringing dry conditions to much of china as well as the korean peninsula. light showers in southeastern china are diminishing, but redevelop starting saturday. today's highs are looking like this. very cold temperatures in seoul. 7 degrees in tokyo. temperatures will get back to normal starting saturday. that is good news. moving on to the americas. a winter storm is creating blizzard conditions through much of the central rockies. eastern colorado is experiencing the brunt of it. it will move slowly to the east and spread snow through the central plains on friday. down toward the southern u.s., thundershowers are developing in oklahoma and texas which will continue to see a threat of severe weather into friday. back behind it, a large high pressure system is bringing unsettled conditions through the western u.s. we are expecting 23 degrees in los angeles on frid

the city of sendai and miyagi prefecture will host government ministers this july. officials from the united nations and the world bank will help organize a two-day meeting. some of the sessions will be held in two other prefectures hit by the disaster, fukushima and iwate. government officials will invite representatives of countries that have sperexperienced large scale disasters including thailand, indonesia and haiti. japanese delegates will report on the damage from the march disaster and on rescue efforts. participants will also discuss recovery, reconstruction and prevention. organizers will plan to take them on tours of the region. government officials plan to use the results of discussions for a u.n. meeting on disaster prevention planned for 2015. >>> "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 japa

the musicians are from miyagi, one of the hardest-hit prefectures. they want to be sure the people that died in the disaster aren't forgotten. >> translator: this part is made all from debris. >> reporter: he organized the concert. he used to work in sendai and lost friends in the tsunami. he thought about what he could do to honor the people that died. he came up with the idea of creating musical instruments, using debris from the disaster areas. >> translator: i feel like pressing my hands together before the instruments to show my respect to the victims. >> reporter: he rushed to many emergency shelters after march 11th to distribute aid supplies sent from around the country. >> translator: many supplies were sent from western japan and they reached us soon after the disaster. i am so grateful to those people. >> reporter: he remembered another powerful quake that hit western japan 17 years ago. the great earthquake killed more than 6,000 people. he wants to repay the people of western japan by playing music. he visited a monument in kobe for the

the government of miyagi which has 7 reactors has this to say. >> i want to know whether the fukushima accident could have been prevented if appropriate steps had been taken. an investigation of the accident is a priority. i cannot decide whether to allow the reactors to be decided based only on hearing results of stress tests. >> translator: other municipality heads voiced concern and complained about lack of information from the government. there's a rough road to resumption. on monday, their nuclear industrial safety agency gave the first approval to the results of the stress test. the government is expected to consult with the town from now on. but the mayor is one of the municipality heads that responded in the survey that he cannot decide the resumption now. >> first, we have to have new safety standards, based on lessons learned from the accident. then all additional measures should be taken before i give my approval for restarting the reactors. >> reporter: as shown in results of the survey, many local governments are cautious about resumption of operation, and the focus is how

. >>> volunteers trimmed cherry trees in the northeastern city of kesennuma, miyagi prefecture, a city devastated by the earthquake and tsunami last march. about one-third of the cherry trees on the banks of the ookawa river in the city were washed away by the tsunami nearly one year ago. the trees that survived the disaster managed to bloom last year. this year the surviving trees have sprouted buds. on sunday, more than 30 people including members of a group to preserve the trees pruned away dead twigs in the hope of a full blooming. >> translator: many people say they hope to see the cherry trees bloom. we hope it will be a place where visitors can relax and have peace of mind. >> during the march 11th disaster, some people managed to survive by grabbing hold of the branches of the cherry trees. a flower festival will be held on april 22nd for the first time in two years to express gratitude to the cherry trees and condolences for those who died in the disaster. >>> on "the road ahead," we meet a filmmaker who shot a documentary in japan, evoking nature's power to destroy and then r