And well show you how a Japanese Pop Group is gaining popularity for their approach to keeping the country clean. Voters in japan have a date to mark on their calendars. Prime minister shinzo abe dissolved the lower house of the diet and set a general election for december 14th. Abe has been in office since december 2012. He says hes seeking public support for his Economic Policy known as abenomics. The speaker of the chamber declared the dissolution. The Campaign Officially starts on december 2nd, and people will cast their ballots 12 days later. Prime minister abe is framing the vote as a choice between abenomics and other alternatives. Translator through the election campaign, i would like to ask the people whether our economic policies are right or wrong. Id like to ask the public whether there are any other options. Abe says his government has increased employment, income and corporate profits. He said his economic policies rectified excessive depreciation of the yen, put an end to the hollowing out of industries and revitalized smaller businesses. He said abenomics is not complete until people in rural areas can feel the fruit of the economic recovery. Translator we should maintain and spur the momentum of the virtuous Economic Cycle that will enable people in all corners of the country to feel that the economy is recovering. There is no other way. Our Growth Strategy faces arguments from both supporters and opponents. Some strongly resisted. Im determined to push forward with the strategy, and better peoples lives. Abe said he plans to delay a consumption tax hike and he said hes determined to reform the nations finances and improve Social Security systems. The tax is scheduled to rise from 8 to 10 next october by law. But abe plans to put it off by 18 months. He says abenomics would further improve the nations economy in three years, before the dissolution the Ruling Coalition of abes liberal Democratic Party and komeito held two thirds of the lower house seats. Both the ruling and opposition parties have now effectively launched their election campaigns. Here are their strategies. These are most of the parties that are expected to field candidates in the election. Here is what the leaders of some of the major parties have to say. Yamaguchi is head of the junior party komeito. He explains why the Ruling Coalition remains the best option. Translator we have been working to revitalize the economy and end the deflationary spiral under the coalition agreement. Its important we further accelerate this effort. The coalition is the only choice to follow through on these efforts. Were determined to get voters to choose us. Bandi kayeda heads the main Democratic Party he says his party will be more responsive to the peoples wishes. Translator for the past two years, Prime Minister abe has been steamrolling through his policies and ignored constitutionalism on such matters as allowing the country the right to exercise collective selfdefense, and the states secrets bill. We need to question the current administrations policies. The coleader of the japan opposition Innovation Party stresses the need for reform, which he says needed the ldp nor dpj can deliver. Translator our party is free of vested interest. We pledge to do away with these rights and interests and implement Growth Strategies or tighten regulation reform in a real sense. Thats what we want to communicate to the public in an honest manner to gain its support. Abe hopes to continue tackling the important items on his agenda by winning a mandate in this election. Lets look back at what hes accomplished in his two years in office. Reporter abe returned to power for the second time in december 2012. His liberal Democratic Party won back the majority in the lower house. Defeating the thenare youing Democratic Party of japan. Translator lets do our best to return to a strong economy. By abenomics. Reporter abe pushed through a collection of revitalization plans called abenomics. Aimed at ending decades of deflation. Seven months after he took office abe and ldp Coalition Partner komeito swept to victory again in the upper house election. With both houses under his control, abe gained momentum to proceed with the longstanding defense policy goal. Abe and his cabinet agreed to change the way the constitution had been interpreted. That included allowing the country to exercise its right to collective selfdefense. They want japan to be able to defend closely related countries under attack in certain conditions. But that desire has yet to become law. In september, abe reshuffled his cabinet for the First Time Since he took office in 2012. He wanted to build fresh support for his policies, including strengthening japans ability to protect itself. He appointed five female ministers in an effort to promote the role of women in society. But, two of them resigned within two months of assuming their new positions. Over allegations of political funding irregularities, and violation of the election law. Translator as Prime Minister, i am responsible for appointing the two ministers. I apologize to the public for creating this situation. Reporter recent Economic Data added to the Prime Ministers concerns. Japans latest gdp figures show the countrys economy shrank in the july to september period. Abe now wants to postpone a consumption tax hike, which was scheduled to for next october. Translator i have made an extremely important decision that will affect peoples lives, and the nations economy. Ive made up my mind that i should seek the mandate of the people without delay. Reporter opposition parties say abe has called the election in an attempt to conceal the failure of his economic policies. Now, voters will get a chance to deliver their verdict. Our senior political commentator Masayo Nakajima joined us with his analysis. Lawmakers in the ruling liberal Democratic Party will be looking to keep their majority. So they can push ahead with policies they say the country needs. The Prime Minister wants a mandate for his plans to raise a consumption tax. The tax was raised from 5 to 8 in april this year. He was going to put it up again, next october. But then he pushed back the timing to april 2017. Abe said in his News Conference that he will never postpone the tax hike again. One and a half years later, for fiscal reconstruction. Lawmakers in the Main Opposition Party say that abe called an election to try and hide the fact that abenomics is not working. They claim that the programs failure gave him no choice but to put off the consumption tax hike. But in the News Conference, abe strongly said that he disagrees. He says he said his economic policies have pushed up share prices, corporate earnings, wages, and employment. He claimed that the economy is in a good cycle. He said hell ask voters if they want abenomics to continue. Prime minister abe said in the News Conference that he will be looking to keep the majorities so he can push ahead with his policies. The secretarygeneral of the Ruling Coalition have agreed to try to win more. At least 249 seats. Thats still far fewer seats than they have now. But still it gives them a stable majority. It would give them half the seats on all the Standing Committees so they can set the legislative agenda. I dont think they will face much of a challenge. You know, public support is blow 10 for the Main Opposition Party dpj. And over 35 for Prime Minister abes party ldp. So at this point, abes almost certain to get the confidence vote he needs to drive his policies forward. Voters in japan have a date to mark on their calendars. Prime minister shinzo abe dissolved the lower house of the diet, and set a general election for december 14th. Abe has been in office since december 2012. He says hes seeking public support for his Economic Policy known as abenomics. We now turn to the business aspect, after the dissolution of the lower house and ron madison is here with more on that story. Ron . You know when all is said and done Business Leaders really just hoping that this will give a boost to the economy. Theyve urged policymakers to waste no time coming up with measures to keep the economy growing, and pull it out of deflation. They talked after japans lower house was dissolved. The chairman of Japan Association of Corporate Executives said many hope the economy will enter a Virtuous Cycle and that livelyhoods will improve. Translator people are beginning to worry that the economys recovery is weakening, and that it might return to deflation. I hope the political vacuum created by the election will be short. And politicians will respond to peoples expectations and alleviate their concerns. The chairman of the Japan Chamber of commerce and industry said rural firms benefit less from the weak yen. He wants to slow depopulation and invigorate regional economies. Other news today, u. S. Senators have criticized japanese firms takata and honda for taking more than three years to start recalling faulty air bags. Executives from both firms testified at a senate hearing. Takata, which makes the air bags, said the company had been notified of the problem by honda in may 2005. But he said takata took appropriate steps in examining the defect before ordering the first recall in november 2008. He denied any attempt to conceal the problem. Honda north america agreed the carmaker could have responded more quickly. But he insisted the Company Handled the issue properly at the time. Lawmakers blamed both companies for not doing enough to uphold safety standards. And they want a quick nationwide recall. The japanese maker said appropriate data is necessary before they take such a measure. Were hearing now that Chinas Central Bank says it will cut its oneyear deposit rate by 25 basis points to 2. 75 . The peoples bank of china said it will also cut the oneyear lending rate by 40 basis points to 5. 6 . Chinas gdp grew by 7. 3 in july to september. That was slightly down from the previous quarter, analysts say the economy is slowing down there. Well the Interest Rate cut boosted european shares. Major benchmarks in the region are extending earlier gains. Were seeing that frankfurt is moving ahead now 1. 7 . Paris has also gained ground. Now up 1. 5 . Londons ftse 100 is up by 0. 75 . Also Investor Sentiment being lifted by growing speculation that the European Central bank will provide further stimulus measures. Earlier in the day the banks president mario draghi said Inflation Expectations were declining to levels seen as excessively low. Here in asia, most markets finished up with the help of upbeat Economic Data out of the u. S. Tokyos nikkeiose to a oneweek high. Chinas shanghai composite bounced back from recent market weakness. Mumbais sensex index posted a record high close. Moving on to currencys now draghis comments are pushing the euro down against other major currencies including the dollar. Right now were seeing that at 1. 2431. Meanwhile the dollar is largely unchanged against the yen from levels during late asian trading hours. Weve got it in that upper 117 range, roughly 117. 80. Okay. That is going to do it for biz this hour. Lets get a recap of the markets. The Japan Coast Guard has arrested the captain of a chinese boat for operating illegally near japans ogasawara islands. The chinese captain was arrested in japanese waters in the pacific early friday. Hes being taken to the coast guards yokohama station to be interviewed. Coast guard officials suspect that the crews of chinese boats operating in the area are engaged in coral poaching. On thursday they increased the number of night time patrol boats. Officials think chinese crews have been avoiding the islands during the day and entering japans waters at night to evade detection. They have been trying to drive the chinese boats from the area and force them to use up fuel before they enter areas that are rich in coral. But they decided to change tactics. 47 chinese boats were spotted in the area on thursday and 44 on wednesday. The number has dropped from over 200 earlier this month. A u. S. Congressional panel says chinas advancing military cape ands will challenge those of america and japan. The warning is in the u. S. China Economic and security review commissions annual report. It says chinese president xi jinping appears to have more control over National Security and Foreign Policy than his predecessor. And he is pursuing a more active role for china in regional and international affairs. The report indicates xis approach is ratcheting up tension with japan over the Senkaku Islands in the east china sea. Japan controls the Senkaku Islands. The japanese government maintains the islands are part of japans territory. China and taiwan claims them. The report also talks about rapid developments chinas military is making in space. Theyve been testing missiles that can travel more than five times the speed of sound. The Committee Warns all u. S. Military satellites could be under threat from Chinese Forces in five to ten years. Chinas Nuclear Force would also be more of a threat. Professor Robert Sutter is with George Washington university. He says chinas behavior over the past years undermines u. S. Interests in asia. We want to get along with china and we hope that they will be collaborative with us as we go forward. But we have to keep our powder dry. We have to be prudent. Sutter said the u. S. Needs a Stronger Alliance with japan and south korea to counter chinese activity. The last british governor of hong kong has advised student protesters to clear the streets. Chris patton has been a strong supporter of the demonstrations in the former british colony. But now he says hes worried about a backlash. Patton made the comments to the u. S. Congressional executive commission on china through a video link from london. He praised the students nearly twomonthlong campaign to seek a democratic election, but he also said that if there are Court Injunctions to move out of a particular area, they have to be obeyed. I think i would, for the time being, at least drop down a few notches with this campaign but be prepared to continue it in other ways in the future. Patten said leaders in beijing and hong kong have failed to engage in serious dialogue with the students. Patten is apparently concerned if the current impasse continues and the protesters become violent, there could be repercussions. The former governor remains a respected figure among the people of hong kong. A Japanese Pop Group is trying to get people to change their tune about trash. Theyre singing in the streets while they clean. Some of their fans are helping them along the way. Reporter tokyos neighborhood bustles with young people. On this day volunteers have shown up for a cleaning event. Once a week this Group Gathers to clean the shopping district around the train station. Some female volunteers have joined the large number of men at the event. The girls are members of a pop group. This allfemale pop Group Released their debut record in september. Their lyrics encourage people to clean. Translator its really hard to be successful if you dont have a specific concept. When i asked them what theyre good at, and whats special about them, they said the young woman said they like to clean and tidy up. So, we started to think that cleaning should be their theme. Reporter clears has put together a plan to spruce up the whole country. All of the groups key members are certified cleaning professionals. Between meeting their fans and performing in concerts, the members find time to participate in cleaning events, organized by npos around the country. Removing trash, with the help of fans, helps make the group a growing concern. When clears members go somewhere to pick up trash, scores of fans help. Translator its fun to be able to clean up with them. Its like killing two birds with one stone because the town gets clean, too. I think its great. Reporter today, roughly 40 people took part in the cleanup. They spend more than an hour picking up garbage and separating it. Translator we hope that as our fan base grows, people will stop throwing trash on the street and more people will take part in cleanups like these. Translator i hope that our activities will encourage people to keep clean. Reporter clears has made local cleanups a core activity. So far the members have formed trash collecting groups in cities like tokyo, osaka, and nagoya. T