takeo nakajima, nhk world, hobart, tasmania. >>> time now to get a check on the weather.e on the streets in tokyo are watching their step as they get around today. meteorologist sayaka morery explains. >> hi there. on monday we saw very heavy snow in tokyo. because we are not used to heavy snow, people are having trouble walking on icy roads. let's take a look at some video from tokyo. people on japan's pacific coast woke up to frigid temperatures today. tokyo's snow was melting. but when temperatures plummeted the slush froze. icy roads are making it difficult for people to commute. and the cold isn't helping. tokyo's snow is still four centimeters deep. so quite dangerous situation out here. snow is affecting northern japan, but that's easing. however, the next disturbance is moving into the same locations, bringing a new mixture of snow and rain once again. out toward the west a big high pressure system is keeping things dry and settled across mongolia, china, as well as the korean peninsula. we are still -- we have still dense fog alert posted for some locations in ch

takeo nakajima, sydney. >>> japanese prime minister shinzo abe is making plans to change the status quo. he's seen his country's coast guard ships play cat and mouse with chinese government vessels in the east china sea, and he's watched north korean leaders launch rockets. abe is moving forward with plans to strengthen national defense. abe intends to scrap guidelines endorsed by the former government. defense ministry officials have drawn up their budget request for the upcoming fiscal year. they're looking for an additional 100 billion yen, more than 1 billion u.s. dollars. leaders are expected to use some of those funds to increase surveillance around the senkaku islands in the east china sea. the japanese government bought them from a private owner in september. china and taiwan also claim the islands. chinese government ships have entered japanese waters repeatedly since the islands were nationalized. abe and members of his cabinet will consider increasing the number of personnel in the self-defense forces, and they're looking at spending more on equipment. >>> those chinese gover

nhk world's takeo nakajima shows us what they're working on. >> reporter: it's summer in antarctica,t's a busy time for animals, from penguins to scientists. experts at australia's four observation bases are hard at work, documenting climate change. th are ao seeing its effects firsthand. planes use ice runways to bring in researchers and goods. but those runways haven't been as reliable in recent years. when temperatures rise above minus 5 degrees celsius the surface begins to melt. that makes landing and taking off risky. 80% of flights planned in 2011 had to be canceled. >> the season when we can use it -- or to turn it around, the part of the sean when we can't use the runway will get longer and longer. so it's natural that we would be looking and we will be looking at other alternatives for moving people in and out of antarctica. >> reporter: australia's antarctic division in tasmania oversees south pole operations. we went to the southeastern island to talk via satellite link with a base leader. >> can you tell us the general information of your base? >> casey station is the la