the officials said they'll start work off the coast of niigata prefecture in the coming months. researchers will be trying to work out how much gas is down there. they said the reserves could potentially supply japan's natural gas consumption for 100 years. officials hope to start commercializing the methane hydrate in five yes. > and nextet'sake a brie look at the market figures. >>> senior environmental officials from japan, china and south korea plan to work together to deal with the problem that knows no borders. they've agreed to launch a new framework to help them cooperate on tackling air pollution. japanese environment minister adoptea joint statement with hisouth korean counterpart and chinese minister. they met for two days in the south wherein japanese city. their talks focused on how to deal with fine particulate matter, an air pollutant known as pm 2.5. they discussed cooperation including research and pollution monitoring. the countries could take a step forward in tackling air pollution. china's leader says he believes the nations will be able to promote cooperati