tomoko. what about tomoko i asked? matzu gathered the food and wrapped it up. i followed you and the others down to the beach yesterday morning. i wondered if you might find your way to peace. i couldn't, i began to cry, turning away in shame. matzu lned over and smelled a sweat, it takes greater courage to live. [applause] >> i'm going to throw it open now to questions. so you might direct me as to what you might want to know about. as we are taping this with sfgov tv i will ask you to ask your question into the microphone so they can pick it up. and you, too will be on tv. now nobody wants to. i will ask a requequestion, wha you working on now? >> does that sound planted? it wasn't. i just finished a monster of a book it's a huge book, set in japan and covers the earth from 1939 and 1966 about 2 brothers and the title is a street of a thousand blossoms. if you haven't noticed we are talking about themes that run through my book. one of the things i like a lot is exploring subcultures. the lepercy. the silk working women. i like to write about groups of people

nhk world's tomoko kamata met with him to discuss what's driving his nation's economy and mongolia's cozy ties with north korea. >> reporter: this is what many people imagine when they think of mongolia, nomads corralling sheep. wide open spaces. people living the traditional lifestyles. but this still is mongolia. high-rises, designer stores, young people in fashionable clothing armed with smartphones. this country of contrasts, it's thriving. researchers at the international monetary fund say mongolia's economy grew 70.7% in 2011 compared to 2010. natural resources are the main driver. surveyors have found a wealth of coal, copper, uranium, and rare earth metals under the prairies. most of it untouched. the tavan tolgol mine in southern mongolia is attracting international attention. the government says the mine has the potential to produce the world's largest supply of a type of coal used to make steel. companies around the world are scrambling to get steak. the government is holding an international bid for the rights. >> reporter: the tavan tolgol mine plays an important role fo

it's a picture of a child, whose name is tomoko, being bathed in her mother's arms and it's a beautiful picture. whenever gene showed it and talked about it, on the screen, he would--he would tend to be--become very tearful indeed. and there's a picture in the book that shows gene lecturing about that at jackson hole, wyoming. c-span: that picture's on the screen, and there's the picture you were talking about that's in the book that he took. >> guest: right. c-span: what year was this? >> guest: that would have been about 1972, somewhere--somewhere in there. i'm not sure exactly. i was picture editor at the new york times then, as i recall. c-span: you talk about the three marriages you've had. >> guest: right. c-span: when was the first? >> guest: well, i fell in love with my--my--my college sweetheart. we had to wait three and a half years to get married. it's funny that you mention that, 'cause i--i--one reason i was able to do this book is, i saved a lot of stuff, and one of the things i found in my files was a telegram i sent to my fiancee in chicago the day after i reported for w