care facilities to look their best. >> reporter: a couple of hair stylists visited a home in osaka. and set up a temporary beauty salon. each day they make the rounds of various nursing homes. they check each client's hair and suggest a style. cuts take 15 minutes and cost about $18. customers pay extra for coloring and perms. most clients have problems getting around on their own, so the hair dressers help them. >> we are grateful that the visiting stylists help our residents so carefully before and after the hair cuts. >>> even though the elderly might not leave the home all day, they still want to look good. like this 78-year-old. she used to look forward to her monthly visit to the hair salon, but two years ago leg problems made it difficult to get there. >> translator: i used to go to the hair salon by taxi a roundtrip, but since coming here i've become less independent. >> reporter: it's seto's turn. >> please cut it a little shorter at the neck than it is now. so your neck would look over. can you style my hair to give that effect? >> i do my best. >> as well as a shorter cut

: this osaka hos stal was built decades ago. the price for one night starts at $15. so these days, 90% of the rooms are usually taken. >> i'm traveling on a budget so looking for cheap place. it is difficult to find a cheap place so this is really like special. >> reporter: several decades ago, the district where the hostile is located. economic times were better then and construction was booming so the area drew job seekers from different parts of japan. but when the recession set in, jobs disappeared an many workers left. in the '80s, 25,000 lived here. now, it is 1/15 of that. to bring in more customers, local hostiles have started taking in foreign tourists like back peakers. >> translator: we learned that there weren't many cheap hotels for foreigners so we decided to try catering to them. >> reporter: japan's government is trying to attract foreign tourists, but meeting their diverse needs has been a challenge for locals not accustomed to foreign ways. this district already has 10,000 low-priced rooms, so it is expected to

. >> reporter: people in osaka flock to the opening of this shopping mall late last month. a restaurant inside is first place in japan where customers can taste one of the most valued fish, bluefin tuna, that's been farmed from the egg stage. >> translator: it's incredibly fresh and just delicious. >> translator: this is why i came here today. and i'm totally satisfied. >> reporter: the bluefin have been farmed at the university fishery's laboratory in wakayama prefecture. there are about 5,000 tuna in pens like this. the bluefin can grow up to two meters long and weigh over 200 kilograms. >> translator: this is the first fish that we cultivated fully in 2002. he's 11 years old now. >> reporter: tokihiko okada has been growing tuna since the start of the project. he's raised the fish from their incubation periods. he says the time he most worried about them was just after their birth. for a month after they hatched, young fry crashed into the walls of the tank. they were unable to recognize the barrier. many of them died by breaking their spines or jaws. okada and his team

this professor of osaka university is a leading researchers in the field of corneal regeneration. he was the first surgeon any where to successfully regenerate a cornea with a culture of cells from the patient's mouth. it might eventually replace the conventional corneal graft. that is set with a host of problems. but before the new technique can be used widely, it must be tested on more patients to ensure it is effective. this means telling the patients the technique is still experimental. then they decide whether they want to proceed. >> translator: i feel very hopeful. it's really amazing. >> translator: with accurate information at hand, the patients can judge for themselves what kind of treatment they want. >> reporter: the foundation that runs the site will like more hospitals and doctors to take part. after evaluating new treatments, the organization wants to post the information on its website. >>> all right. well, time now to get a check on the weather. good morning. seems people living on islands in the bay of bengal, that's east of sri lanka are dealing with stormy weat

. >>> the mayor of osaka. he spoke in tokyo and said his intention was to ask u.s. forces to prevent sex offenses. and he argued his strong sense of crisis led to the use of an inappropriate expression. >> translator: my remark could be construed as offensive to the u.s. forces and american people. i retract my comments. >> he also made comments about comfort women. many of the women were forced to work in brothels for japanese soldiers. he said earlier this month that comfort women were necessary in times of war. but he clarified saying japan must express deep remorse for the violation of women's rights in the past. >>> what i intended to convey in my remarks is a not insignificant number of nations should face that they also violated the human rights of women. >> after the speech, he spoke about the 1993 japanese government statement. it expressed the comfort women system and apologized. he called on the government to clarify this point, arguing it is the biggest reason relations between japan and south korea haven't improved. hashimoto's news conference lasted tw

there was a seminar in osaka on friday and 850 individual investors listened to specialists talk about the tokyo market outlook. >> translator: because stock prices plunged on thursday, i came to hear what we can expect to see in the future. i was so worried last night i couldn't sleep a wink. >> stock prices have been going up too fast. i don't think they can just keep on rising like that. they surely will come crashing down one of these days. i'm ready. >> translator: many investors are experiencing such big fluctuations for the first time in their lives. so they were asking what's going to happen now. >> japan's long-term interest rates have remained volatile this week. the yield on the ten year government bond briefly touched 1% on thursday for the first time in a year. at the end of trading on friday, the yield came off a bit and stood at 0.845%. the rising interest rates prompted some japanese life insurance companies to rethink their investment strategies. they have been investing heavily in japanese government bonds until now. fukoko is one of these companies. the director sayi

. >>> shoppers at a department store in osaka here in japan are enjoying service with an electronic smilethe robot is named minami. she responds to customers using ten set phrases. her creator says she has huge potential. >> i think she could be part of robot systems that help people in nursing care or as receptionists or as security guards. >> she will be greating shoppers through the 12th of this month. i hope there is never a day when minami takes over my job. stay tuned for more here on nhk world. i'm james tengan. thanks for watching. ♪ >>> "design talks." >> folding a single sheet of paper to make beautiful shapes, animals, birds and flowers. the traditional japanese art of origami is now known worldwide. but what is origami y?

osaka mayor hoshimoto has defended the so-called comfort women's system calling it necessary. many of the women were coerced to serve in japanese military brothels. nhk world reports. >> reporter: toru hashimoto has a reputation for making attention-grabbing remarks. now that he is also the co-leader of the national japan restoration party what he says has even more impact. his latest statement is no exception. >> translator: the women's system was necessary for brave soldiers who were in the line of fire. anyone can understand that. >> reporter: hashimoto says the comfort women's system helped maintain discipline and that various countries have similar setups during the war. he argues the japanese system that forced women into prostitution hasn't been proven. at the same time, he says it was a tragic consequence of war if anyone served as a comfort woman against her will. the japanese government issued a statement in 1993 admitting comfort women were forced to work in military brothels. it apologized to the women. they came from japan, the korean peninsula, and other parts of

the report was compiled before osaka mayor toru hashimoto triggered controversy earlier this month. he said wartime brothels were necessary. >>> he didn't give any clear dates. he said he needed to see more of an improvement in the job market before he winds anything down. ben bernanke says he will leave the easing policy as it is. he said the benefits of quantitative easing are apparent. he said a premature tightening of monetary policy would carry a substantial risk of slowing or ending the economic recovery. he also said the fed could slow the pace of asset purchases by the end of this year if employment shows sustained improvement. >> if we see continued improvement and have confidence that is going to be sustained then we could in the next few meetings take a step down in our pace of purchases. >> u.s. stock prices got a temporary boost from the fed chairman's comments but stocks ended lower as the recent fed minutes raised speculation that the bond buying program may end soon. the dow jones lost half a percent. for more on the japanese markets let's go to lee at the bank of ja

. >>> comments by the mayor of osaka on so-called comfort women have upset people in and out of japan. >>> a japanese envoy in pyongyang has received words of praise from north korea's second highest ranking government official. >>> and as rent and housing pr

those who go to the affordable city of osaka can find a more affordable home away from home. >> reporter: this was built decades ago and used to cater to most are foreign.nd nowadays the budget travelers find the rate attractive. the price for one night starts at $15. so these days 90% of the rooms are usually taken. >> i'm traveling on a budget so looking for a cheap hotel. it's difficult to find a cheap place so this is really like special. >> reporter: several decades ago, the district where the hostel is located was home to thousands of day laborers. economic times were better then and construction booming. the area drew job seekers from different parts of japan. when the recession set in, jobs disappeared and many workers left. in the '80s, 25 tho,000 lived h. now, it's a 15th of that. to bring in more customers, local hostels have started taking in foreign tourists, like backpackers. >> translator: we learned that there weren't many cheap hotels for foreigners so we decided to try catering to them. >> reporter: japan's government is trying to attract foreign tourists. but meeting t

the mayor of osaka further inflamed tensions two weeks ago with remarks about so called comfort women. many of the women were forced to work in wartime brothels. he said the system was necessary for wartime troops. >>> tokyo investors are playing tug of war. markets have gone up, down, and up again. good morning. what do investors look for during times like this? >> they can look to wall street, for example, because investors there are coming back from a holiday weekend, and they were playing catchup, so on tuesday, u.s. stocks rose. that's due to signs of an improvement in the u.s. economy. the dow jones rose two-thirds of a percent to finish at 15,409. it posted a new closing high. and for more on japanese markets, let's go to ilene li. after another volatile session on tuesday, japanese stocks managed to end higher. with the strong performance in wall street, how are things looking, are we set for another day of gains? >> good morning. yes, investors seem to be encouraged by the investor in the u.s. let's look at opening levels for wednesday, may 29th. the nikkei is up. topix is al

the report was compiled before the osaka mayor triggered controversy earlier this month. he said wartime brothels were necessary. >>> religious leaders in iran have barred a former president from running in the upcoming election. reformists say the omission of akbar rafsanjani is a clear setback. nhk world reports from tehran. >> reporter: the more to 600 korea are candidates for the vote next month. they choose eight candidates to the islamic regime. the top nuclear negotiator finds himself among those who made the cut. former vice president made the race, too. rafsanjani might make a return to power and seek a relation with the west. but his views go against others. an aide to rafsanjani talked to local media on wednesday. president mahmoud ahmadinejad had hand-picked his close aide for the post. ahmadinejad showed his dissatisfaction with the issue. the group didn't give specific reasons for disqualifying the cabinet they did but some experts point out if rafsanjani ran he might win support from people who are not happy with the current administration. iran shows no si

in the worst case scenario, the surface of the ground would shake more than ten minutes in tokyo, osaka and nagoya, displaying oscillation of buildings would be most pronounced at the top of high rises. a professor used the analysis to run his own oscillation tests. he chose a 29-story building on his campus. he used computer modelling to reproduce its structure. he discovered that the highest part of the building would shake nearly 3 meters from side to side, about three minutes after the quake. he found the building's oscillation could last more than 20 minutes and could be nearly five times larger than the sway caused by the 2011 earthquake. the force could warp the joints of poles and cross peoples more than expected, possibly causing walls and ceilings to collapse. >> translator: we now know the possible effects of the nankai trough quake. we need to strengthen the structure of buildings, especially tall ones, even though it will cost a lot. >> the professor says the quake wouldn't cause buildings to collapse but he says shelves should be fixed to prevent injuries from long period

in terms of today's moves, the osaka futures is probably telling us that once again the correlations in the equity markets are going to be directly correlated to the movements in the foreign exchange. at this juncture the dollar-yen is looking a little softer in the u.s. trading session that's just ending on your size. dollar/yen yesterday just to put it into context rose as high, about 102.40 and that helps to support equities in general. but given the fact that trade is currently being unwound with more than 100 basis points and also euro-yen which was trading as high as 131.60 at the high of yesterday's trading session, it's going to mean there's going to be some selling in the cash market across the board. of course futures markets tend to dictate the movement in cash markets. a lot of the times the intraday hedge funds, what they do is they sell in the futures market and then they start selling the equities in the cash market. the other factor that could be influencing the market moves is of course where jgb yields have been heading. now, they tend to always -- a lot of the time

duck, like five stories high, and it's world traveling, having bobbed so far through or near paris, osakalo, brazil, auckland, new zealand, and sydney, australia, where they had to raise the bridge to let him through. and always there's a crowd stuck to the spot, mesmerized, though the duck says nothing and only stares back at you. but you can't not look and the dutch artist who created it thinks that's because of childhood. >> it brings joy, obviously. it brings people together. we are living on a planet. we are one family and the global waters are our bathtub. >> reporter: of course, give a certain turn of mind, giant duck, crowds lured in by it. this could be horror-movie stuff! but, no, the duck is sweet and nice and gently gliding -- soon, in fact, to america. though where exactly, the duck's not saying. we'll know when he gets here. john donvan, abc news, washington. >> stay in touch with us at abcnews.com. "nightline" later and we'll see you again tomorrow night. goodnight. >>> california still on fire watch tonight. you'll see conditions keeping firefighters on high alert. >> afte

the mayor of osaka trying to explain comics that set off an international fire storm.ggesting u.s. service members use adult entertainment to relieve their sexual frustration. >> but he says another comment he made was taken out of context. he was talking about women forced to become sex slaves in world war ii. >> translator: i have never condoned the use of comfort women. i place the greatest importance on the dignity and human rights of women as an essential part of the universal values in today's world. it is extremely regrettable that only the cutoff parts of my remarks have been reported worldwide and that these reports have resulted in misunderstood meanings of the remarks, which are utterly contrary to what i actually intended. >> the mayor disputed that the japanese government organized the trafficking of these so-called comfort women. very controversial. >> a loaded term in japan. meanwhile, an egyptian scientist so annoyed by mosquitos he actually set out to find an easier way to keep them from biting. >> this is kind of cool. he came up with this innovative

having bobbed through or near paris, osaka, japan, brazil, new zealand and australia where they had tonot look at it. the dutch artist who created it thinks that's because of childhood. >> it brings joy, obviously. it brings people together. we are living on the planet. we are one family. and the global waters are our bathtub. >> reporter: given a certain turn of mind, giant duck, crowds reeled in, this could be horror movie stuff. the duck is sweet, nice, gently gliding soon to america. where exactly? the duck is not saying. we'll know when he gets here. john donvan, abc news, washington. >> i'm a fan of the duck. >> i love the duck. >> the duck for president. world peace. 54 feet high. inflatable. >> is that right, 54 feet high. >> can you believe that? >>> up next, an early celebration of cinco de mayo. celebration. you are not going to want to miss it. all my medical expenses, dicare doesn't pay i looked at my options. then i got a medicare supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical exp

that is why i rise today to condemn the unfortunate remarks of the mayor of osaka, japan, who as recentlys yesterday denied the existence of comfort women. the mayor not only questioned the existence of comfort women, but he sought to justify the use of quote a comfort woman system, unquote, as a means to boost morale for the military. the mayor's remarks are absolutely outrageous and it adds insult to injury for survivors and their families. the rise of ultranationalism in japan is very worrisome, and as chairman of the foreign affairs committee i strongly condemn it. mr. speaker, the house went on record in 2007 to express our outrage regarding the forced enslavement of 200,000 women during world war ii. the civilian populations of korea, china, taiwan, and the philippines suffered so much from the imperialism and aggression of the imperial government of japan. we speak with one voice when we speak against grave violations of human rights. it is in america's interest that we continue to press for justice and to never forget. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlema

. >>> comments by the mayor of osaka on so-called comfort women have upset people in and out of japan. >>> a japanese envoy in pyongyang has received words of praise from north korea's second highest ranking government official. >>> and as rent and housing