What we have done over the past four years. I also want to use the opportunity to convey to the world the significance of further strengthening our alliance. The ravages of war should never be repeated. I want to express my resolve toward the future. In december 1941, the nowdefunct Japanese Imperial navy attacked u. S. Military bases in hawaii. Abe says his visit will symbolize the reconciliation between the two countries. Thailands new king has led a ceremony observing the birthday of his father, who recently tied. King Maha Vajiralongkorn ascended to the throne to replace him just last week. The annual event took place in the royal palace in bangkok. The late King Bhumidol adujyadejs birthday was on monday. He died in october after a reign of seven decades. Crowds gathered to see the new king presiding over the event and the buddhist certificate ceremony was broadcast across the nation. Translator i believe people will continue to revere the royal family. Nothing will change from before. Translator the new king knows what to do, we just follow. Meanwhile the militaryled interim government is tightening control of free speech by shutting down websites credit critical of the royal family. Senior officials in south koreas government have indicated that President Park geunhye will accept a request from the ruling party to resign next april. A Senior Member of the Parliamentary Office suggested park will soon announce she will accept the plan by the ruling party. At the same time nonmainstream members of the party are said to back an impeachment motion against park. One member of the Party Leadership said if the vote takes place on friday, every lawmaker should join the session and decide it according to their conscience. South koreans have been outrage the by the scandal. People gathered near parks president ial home and office to call for her resignation. On tuesday, the heads of some of the countrys top conglomerates are expected to be questioned by lawmakers in relations to the scandal. Leaders from japan and russia want to deepen ties in business and theyre generating interest from the private sector. Ai uchida joins us from the business desk. How to invest in energy. A group of lenders including major japanese banks are responding to a request from tokyo for companies to offer economic support. The helplenders of considering loan of hundreds of millions of dollars to russias governmentbacked energy giant gazprom. Those close to the deal say two japanese banks along with u. S. Lender Jpmorgan Chase are in the final stages of negotiations on the joint loan. The sources say the loan will amount to 800 million euros, about 860 million. The three banks have previously taken part in joint lending to gazprom but with the new loan theyre apparently anticipating growth in Global Energy needs. The governmentaffiliated bank japan bank for International Cooperation is also working to set up a yendenominated credit line worth more than 260 million. The funds will be offered to businesses in russia through a major local bank. The summit takes place december 15th in japan. The japanese government and ruling parties are trying to encourage businesses to carry out research and development that would strengthen competitiveness. They have decided on a plan for tax system reform for fiscal 2017 that will give Corporate Tax breaks to firms that increase spending on experimentation and research. This will be determined by comparing the amount companies spend on research with the average total over the previous three years. Big firms will get Corporate Tax breaks of 6 to 14 on research spending. The amount will depend on the proportion of that spending to overall sales. For small and mediumsized firms the figure could be between 12 and 17 . Corporate spending on experimentation and research to develop Services Using drones and artificial intelligence, that will also become eligible for tax breaks. Tax breaks or not, some people in japan are putting everything they can into underwater research. Coral is a popular material for a wide range of jewelry, but its natural habitat, deep sea reefs, are being threatened by overhave vesting. In this next report well see how people in a major coralproducing region of japan are looking for other ways to cultivate the coral they need. Reporter jewelry coral comes in a wide range of colors. From pale pink to deep rich red. Much of it comes from koichi prefecture in japan. Visitors flock to local shops like this one. Translator the designs are wonderful. I just love looking at them. Tra reporter but in october local coral producers got alarming news. It came from a meeting of signatories on the convention to International Trade in endangered species. Concerned about the Global Design in coral reefs the parties decided to study the impacts of commercial harvesting. About 52 million work was harvested in koichi in 2015. Officials there had already imposed strict regulations on coral harvesting. Its confined to the areas shown in pink on this map. The total haul has been limited to 750 kilograms per year. But local coral producers are worried the societys decision could shrink that amount even further. Translator i think more restrictions would hit the prefectures coral industry hard. Reporter producers are faced with a tough question, how can they keep the local coral industry alive without threatening the future of the reefs . So theyre exploring methods to breed jewelry coral artificially. Theyve enlisted the support of marine life experts at the biological institute. Nakaji conducts experiments on Artificial Breeding. Translator the most important elements are these small flowerlike parts on the ends of the branches. Reporter corals have large branches with polypcovered tentacles concentrated on the ends. Nakachi decided to use these ends of branches to breed coral. He believed they would regenerate after being cut. Local coral harvesters provided the raw material. They removed the ends in order to make the shape more uniform. Nakaji applies adhesive to the branch ends. He then attaches them to artificial reefs and drops the reefs to the sea floor about 100 meters below. Six months later, the branch ends show fresh signs of life. This gives nakaji cause for hope. Translator i think this will contribute greatly to preserving an increasing jewelry coral resources. Harvesting coral is a tradition in koichi. I hope what im trying to do will help keep it going. Reporter the people in koichi are turning to Artificial Breeding to ensure the survival of their industry. But what they learn could also help preserve a species. Let turn to markets now. Just a refresher that wall street staged another rally with the Dow Jones Industrial average hitting a fresh record high. Investors there largely shrugging off the result of italys referendum. In tokyo shares opened in the positive tracking gains in the u. S. As well as European Union markets. The nikkei 225 up. 7 , above 18,400. Shares across most sectors are gaining, especially exporters like electronicsmakers. Theyre being supported by overnight weakness in the yen. The dollar has come off from the overnight high at the upper 114 yen level. Right now the pair in the mid 113 yen levels. The euro though has bounced back against the dollar. It is at 1. 07 on the upper end. Thats a threeweek high. On monday following italys resounding rejection of the reforms, the euro had plunged to the 1. 05 level in the immediate aftermath. Analysts say the common currency staged a swift recovery as the no vote was largely expected. Lets take a look at markets open now in the asiapacific region and we are seeing gains elsewhere too. South korea leading the gains. The kospi up 1. 2 . China markets will open in just under half an hour. It is almost christmas. And for many that means holiday shopping. Here in japan its not christmas without a cake. And this Year Department stores are offering a wider selection than usual. One store in tokyo has expanded its lineup of pricier cakes including large ones and those decorated with flowers. One type is big enough for 35 people and costs around 670. The store says preorders for cakes are up about 30 from last year. Another Department Store nearby is also offering special cakes containing lots of fruit. They have 30 special cakes costing over 70 each, but theyre all sold out. Translator customers usually keep their Purse Strings tight. But they spend more freely on special occasions like christmas. In japan, christmas this year falls on a threeday weekend as friday, december 23rd, is a National Holiday to mark the emperors birthday. Thats the latest in business for this hour. Im going to leave you with a check on markets. A seismologist says last months earthquake off the coast of fukushima caused part of an active fault to shift. Professor toda of Tohoku University looked at the aftershocks of the magnitude 7. 4 earthquake and studied data from the seabed. He says that 30 kilometer stretch of the fault shifted in the quake and he believes if the entire fault had shifted, the tremor would have been much more powerful. He says the remaining part of the fault is close to the shore and has the potential to trigger a magnitude 7. 0 quake. The operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi power plant estimated in 2014 that two fault lines could cause a quake with a magnitude of up to 7. 1. Toda says its important to improve the method of analysis since the quake was more powerful than the utilitys estimate. Translator i think a fault could expose the seabed. We should study it and need to review the way we collect data and how we assess it. I believe that could improve our analysis. Tepco says it will review its estimates if necessarily. Railway operators in northern japan are having trouble maintaining their routes. J. R. Hokkaido says there arent enough passengers to keep half of them in motion. They shut down one section sunday thats been in operation for nearly 100 years. And as nhk world reports, others could soon follow. Reporter the platform is packed with people, and the cars are crowded with passengers. If only maske station looked like this every day. But this is the last time it will see trains, and everyone here has come to say goodbye. Translator i just wanted to convey my appreciation. Thank you for giving me the chance to enjoy beautiful landscapes. Translator i think it will feel empty without the railway. I wish this many passengers had been on board every day. Reporter there have been fewer and fewer passengers on the 16kilometer section connecting maske with rumoi so the Railway Company decided to shut it down. When the route went into service in 1921, it was a vital line. People used it to transport catches of herring from the coast. This archival nhk footage shows women carrying fish on board in 1965. But times have changed. People have moved away or have come to rely on their own vehicles. This is not the First Railway line in hokkaido forced to shut down. In the 1980s, the former National Railway operated many lines. But currently only these ones are running. In november, the Railway Company announced 13 sections are becoming too difficult to sustain. Together they add up to 1,200 kilometers, about half of their firms entire operation. Shutting them down would have a huge impact on the people who live across the region. Translator i need Train Service for my hospital visits. I have no idea how i can manage with no means of transportation. Reporter and residents arent the only ones voicing concern. An expert on Public Transportation says railways must be an integral part of community planning. Translator a dwindling aging population and depopulation can be seen in other parts of japan. The continuation of Public Transportation systems is a problem for rural communities. Reporter j. R. Hokkaido made a proposal in which local governments own part of the railways facilities. For now these governments must figure out how to keep things moving for the communities without relying on railways. In japan, grooming bonsai trees is mostly seen as a hobby for older people. But bonsai specialists hope to change that. As the next story shows, they think theres room to grow in the school classroom. Translator this is excellent, well done. Reporter a lesson in taming nature. From bonsai master hiromi hamano. 79yearold hamano is leading a class at an elementary school. Hes given each student a bonsai tree to look after. Following the great kanto earthquake in 1923, many bonsai growers moved to saitama north of tokyo. The soil here is fertile and offers good drainage. Hamanos bonsai nursery has been in business for more than 80 years. But hes worried about the future. He says few children know the joys of bonsai. Translator bonsai encapsulates the unique characteristics of japanese culture, which makes it a useful thing to know in their life. Reporter saitama is hosting an International Bonsai event next year. City officials thought these classes would be a way to get local kids involved. Hamanas lessons are passionate and simple. His premise is that bonsai is art. Translator an ordinary house plant is just a potted plant. But a bonsai tree reflects your aesthetic sense. Reporter each student is working with a red sandalwood, a poplar tree for bonsai. It bears flowers in the spring followed later by berries. Is. Translator use whichever side you think looks best for the front. Reporter once they decide which side is the front, they can begin shaping. Translator lets trim the long branches. Reporter this is where things get creative. He tells them to imagine how their plants might look when they grow bigger. At the end the class he makes an unexpected suggestion. Translator lets name your plants. Yours looks cool. You can call it anything. Godzilla, maybe. Translator im calling it dragon. Translator im calling mine wind. I once had a pet called wind. Reporter hamanos pleased. Pets get lots of affection, and thats how he wants the children to care for their plants. Translator nature is precious, but its also nice to create a miniature version of it with your own hands. Translator ill water my plant every morning. Translator i hope their love for their plants will evolve into love for other people. Id be very happy if they pass on this experience. Reporter and the masters final lesson, bonsai trees love attention. The childrens creations should have plenty of that. When theyre exhibited at the World Bonsai Convention in april. One of japans rising star Baseball Players has renewed his contract with his japanese team. But the nippon ham fighter says after next season, they will allow shohei i ohtani to seek a spot in the u. S. Major leagues. Hes not only a star pitcher but also a strong batter. He disclosed his salary for the Upcoming Season at a news conference. Translator i signed for 2. 4 million. Some fans say he deserves more. Translator did he sign for that small a salary . He deserves double the amount. His play was inspiring. Ohtani ended the season with ten wins and four losses. He threw record fast pitches of 165 Kilometers Per Hour and also hit 22 homers, helping his team clinch of japan series crown. He was named most valuable player in his league. American sports journalists are keeping a close eye on his career. All 30 teams want him. And not all 30 teams are going to be able to afford him because the amount of money hes going to get is going to be recordbreaking. Ohtani says for now hes focused on next season. Translator my goal now is to help my team get the series title again. A fast pitch there. People in parts of spain are dealing with the aftermath of heavy rain and flooding. That storm has now moved on and is impacting nearby countries. Our meteorologist robert speta joins us with more. Yes, lets start off here across Western Areas of europe where we over the past several days have really been watching this storm system. You can see it even on the satellite picture. Now its drifting towards the east across the central mediterranean. But this has been a cutoff low. Over the past week it was lingering here off the southwestern coastline of spain really pumping a lot of moisture into this area. I want to show you some video coming out of here. Because just on monday we had that significant flooding. Waters are starting to receipt. But to put this in perspective, since december 1st, this area has seen about 95 millimeters of rainfall. Now the annual mean rainfall for the month of december typically around 99 millimeters. So thats why you have the significant flooding. Look at all that mud and muck buildup inside peoples homes. Emergency services actually had to respond to about 1,300 calls for help on sunday in these cities. And still looking at clearing conditions. Thats the good news. High pressure is working its way in behind it. Actually clear weather for much of central and Western Areas of europe. We still have that low down toward the south, even skirting northern coastlines of nigeria, as it drifts off toward italy could bring severe weather. To the north a separate low moving along the Northern Edge of this high across parts of the scandinavian peninsula. Even there into scotland, Northern Areas of the british isles, youre going to be looking at some fairly rough weather. London on the other hand, you might be seeing fog out there. A high of 9. Paris sunny skies. 10 on the chilly side, clear conditions. But it is going to remain rather cold here on your tuesday. If we take a look h