nakatani said defense ministers from japan, the u.s. and australia have agreed to coordinate response to any attempts to change the status quo by force. swift said it's important the countries keep consulting closely with each other. >>> a foreign ministry spokesperson said his government is strongly dissatisfied and opposed. lu kang says the report deliberately plays up the china threat and stirs up tensions. he also referred to the reclamation work in the spratly islands. he says this is fully within china's sovereignty and beyond reproach. lu says japan has been deliberately intervening in the south china sea issue. he says the actions run counter to regional peace and stability and he says it severely undermines the mutual trust between the two neighbors. >>> it seems traditional clothes in japan out. kimono sales are down to a sixth of what they were 30 years ago. with the 2020 games coming to tokyo, one retailer is producing garments expressing the world's diversity. his italian themed kimono debuted in milan . >> reporter: a para

thursday at a ministerial meeting attended by prime minister shinzo abe and defense minister gen nakatani the software displays vessels and aircraft and destroyers. they also approved the export of related parts. the maritime self-defense force is expected to release two new aegis destroyers by march 2021. last year the government approved new rules to easy its defense equipment transfer principles. >>> prime minister abe's marching ahead with plans to change the way japan handles its national security but a former japanese prime minister has criticized abe for ignoring public pb onopinion on a set of security bills. about 2,000 people attended a rally in front of the diet building on thursday to protest against the bills. the draft legislation would allow japan to exercise its right to collective self-defense. >> translator: being prime minister and having power doesn't mean you can ignore the people's will and do whatever you want. such high-handed behavior is unacceptable. we should never tolerate such an act of oppression. >> murayama points out that a majority of legal experts say th

defense minister nakatani says japan will continue to work with other countries to ensure its safe passage in the key sea lane. in may rear admiral became head of the mission for the first time. >>> japanese meteorologists are getting more precise readings on weather phenomena thanks to a new tool. a himawari-8 satellite has completed testing. it's now kilometers above the earth. kurando tago has the story. >> reporter: a ceremony was held to mark the start of operations. the himawari-8 was launched in october. it follow this rotation of the earth and orbits directly over the equator. its imageer can see in greater detail than previous versions. instead of shooting objects in black and white, it can record images in vivid color. >> translator: this allows us to observe details in color of things including the ocean and the ground. >> reporter: the satellite's resolution is four times better than its predecessor's was. the older device could take photos of typhoons and weather events just once every half hour. but the himawari-8 can shoot photos every two and a half minutes. meteorologists