International conference on Wildlife Protection has adopted proposal to launch a study on the global eel trade. And a documentary on fukushima, its director was killed in the brussels terror attack, but final work was completed, thanks to special help. Japans Prime Minister addressed lawmakers with a policy speech at the start of a new session of the diet on monday. Shinzo abe spoke about the need to speed up his Economic Growth plan. And called for the quick approval of the Transpacific Partnership free trade agreement. Translator japans exports of agricultural forestry and Fishery Products have been at record levels for three years in a row. This year, its pace is even faster than last year. We aim to attain our 10 billion target, using the great opportunity of an early start of the tpp. The Prime Minister touched on the emperors wish to abdicate. The emperor expressed concern it may become difficult for him to carry out official duties. The reason he mentioned was the gradual decline in his physical condition. We will ask experts to state how the emperors deuce should be. We will seek public understanding for those discussions. Abe expressed hope that lawmakers would deepen their discussions on possible constitutional amendments. Translator it is not the government, but the people that decide how our constitution should be. And how japan should be in the future. And we, members of the diet, have the responsibility to present that proposal to the people. The Ruling Liberal Democratic Party is calling for changes to the supreme law, which has never been revised since it came into effect in 1947, an approval of twothirds majority of both houses of the diet is required to put an Amendment Proposal to a national referendum. The the Ruling Coalition and lawmakers in favor of revising the constitution make up the twothirds majority in both chambers. As a result, seven upper house election in july. The leader of the ldps Coalition Partner komeito said proper communication about policies is important. Translator we need to explain thoroughly to the public why it is important for japan to conclude the tpp at this time. Considering various global factors. Such as the president ial election in the united states. Opposition Party Leaders criticized abe for not referring to important issues. Translator his speech does not touch the issue of child poverty. I dont think he is paying enough attention to the matter. There was no mention of administrative reform, either. Translator its been a year since new security laws were rammed through, theyre being actually implemented. New missions may be added to those engaged in u. N. Peacekeeping activities in south sudan based on the new laws, but the speech didnt refer to the issue at all. The current diet session is scheduled to run for 66 days. Japan sent out the jets after eight chinese planes passed between okinawas main island and miako island. The planes didnt vioiolate japans air space, but Officials Say it was enough to cause concern. Translator we will defend our land, seas and air. To that end, we will keep closely monitoring the situation and take stetern measures again any violations based on international and selfdefense forces laws. Japan sent out the jets after eight chinese plans passed between okinawas main island and miako island. The chinese aircraft included two fighter jets. Suga says its the first time beijings fighthter jets have flown in the area. Chinese aircraft Officials Say they were on their way to drills in the western pacific. Here in japan, eels are highly valued as a popular dish. A problem is protecting their numbers. The issue is being discussed at the International Conference on Wildlife Conservation in south africa. Iako sasa reports. Relationship experts are raising the alarm over the future of eels. They say their numbers are dwindling and fear the species will become extinct if something isnt done to help. Japan is the biggest consumer of eels in the world. Farmers there are increasingly concerned. Translator japan will suffer the most, thats why we must earnestly work on this issue, no matter what. Reporter at a conservation conference, eu officials said part of the problem is a lack of transparency regarding the international eel trade. They say that results in overfishing. Baby eels caught in rivers and coastal areas are raised to maturity before they are sold. But where exactctly they are caught is not always known. An University Research group has been conducting a study to determine the origin of impor d ed eels soled at rust raunts and superparts. They found that five species including japanese eel are being traded. In 2014, about 70 were other species like european and american eel. The Group Members think the study will help conservation efforts by detailing which species is consumed more. Translator its difficult to classify them by species, just by their appearance. And cooked eels are even more difficult to determine. We need Public Institutions to analyze their dna in order to be able to clarify the situation. On the global eel trade. Reporter at the conference, eel officials proposed a studyd on the global catch and shipment of the eel. It was unanimously adopted. And backed by japan. Japan is highly responsible for the japanese stock as both a range statement and consumer stake. Experts think International Trade regulations could be put on the eel industry unless concrete and effective measures are taken. That would mean japan has a big role to play. Iako sasa, nhk world. Okay here on nhk newsline we turn to business news, investors are paying close to attention to remarks by japans central bank chief after the shift in monetary policy. Gene otani has details. The bank of japan altered its policy framework to include a focus on longterm Interest Rates. The governor said the bank may cut rates further into negative territory if needed, to achieve its inflation goalal. He was speaking at a meeeeting with Business Leaders in osaka. We will make policy adjustments without hesitation, if jududged necessary for Japan Economy as a whole. The main policy tool of possible options s for additioional easi will be further cuts in the negative shortterm Interest Rate and lowering the target level of the longterm Interest Rate. Kuroda said the focus will enable bank to purchase government bonds in a more effective manner. He said the bank will be better prepared to address chapgs in circumstances making its policy more sustainable. Tokyo share prices finished lower after kurodas speech. The Financial Sector fell. As investors are worried that the further negative Interest Rates he suggested would reduce their profits. Cheaper oil and a stronger yen also weighed on sentiment. We report from the tokyo stock exchange. Yen remained strong against the dollar during trading hours, weighing on sentntent. It surged last week after the Federal Reserve kept key Interest Rate unchanged. While analysts say traders are holding back ahead of the u. S. President ial debate. Lets look at the closing levels for this monday, september 26th. The nikkei ended down, 1. 25 at 16,544. The broader topix fell 1 . Looking at individual stocks, the relatively Lower Oil Prices saw the Energy Sector weighing heavily on the benchmark. Impex dropped 2. 3 and refiner showa shell was down 2. 8 . The strong yen hit exportrelated shares, Electronics Manufacturers were trading lower. Tdk down 6 , Alps Electric fell 4 . These apple suppliers are lower after a report said sales of the iphone 7 are weaker than previous model. The u. S. President ial debate will be held monday evening, Tuesday Morning in asia. Analysts say the outcome could move currency and stock markets even in tokyo. I downward momentum spilled over to other borses in the asiapacific region. The kospi fell by 0. 3 . Hong kong, hang seng index down by 1. 5 . The shanghai composite tumbled by 1. 8 . Closing below the 3,000 mark for the first time in two months. Property shares after the nanji nanjing. Singapore Straits Times index declining to finish at 2849. Weakerthanexpected industrial output for august weighed on sentiment. People in japan hold less in Financial Assets compared to a year ago. A bank of japan shows individual holdings for the april through june period shrunk from a year earlier, falling for the second straight quarter. The report put total holdings at about 17 trillion, at Current Exchange rates. Thats down 1. 7 from last year. And its the first consecutive quarterly decline in seven years. The breakdown shows individual cash and deposits rose 1. 2 . But stocks and other investments fell 16. 6 , mutual funds were down by 11. 7 , in line with a drop in share prices since the beginning of the year. The report shows that the bank of japan held about 3. 9 trillion in government bonds. Thats up nearly 35 from a year earlier. And accounts for 36 of all outstanding government bonds. The central bank has been buying a significant amount of Government Debt under its Largest Scale monetary easing program. Blowfish or puffer is an expensive winter delicacy in japan. Its served as sashimi and soup and bids are coming in on the seasons catch in western japan. More than three tons of both wild and farmed tiger puffer wenten the market monday morning, blowfish harvesting is under way. Buyers and sellers have a special way of fitting, they give hand signals in a bag so others cant see. One wholesaler said the catch is good this year for the wild tiger puffer. Due to stable weather in the sea of japan. The fish auction will be shipped mainly to tokyo and osaka in the west. High season continues until december. Heres a look at other business stories were following. Storms and heavy rainfall this summer in japan have affected sales across several sectors of the economy. Officials at the Japan Food Service association say restaurant sales fell 1. 7 in august from a year ago. The first yearonyear decline in nine months. Sales at Family Restaurant chains and pubs also fell. Fast food chains saw a slight rise as customers opted for lower prices. Home appliance makers were also hit by bad weather. Shipments in august fell 4. 2 from a year earlier to a total value of about 1. 7 billion. Sales of air conditioners dropped 12 , refrigerators down 6 . Industry officials pin hopes on new products to be shipped out soon. Time to take a look at our Global Economic calendar for this week. Officials from Oil Producing and consumer countries will hold talks in algeria monday on the sidelines of that meeting opec ministers plan to discuss ways to stabilize oil prices. Tuesday, we learn chinas industrial profits for august. On friday, officials will release japans Consumer Price index and Industrial Production data, both for last month. On saturday, chinas purchasing Managers Index comes out, a leading indicator of factory activity. Every monday we ask specialists to share their perspective on the coming week. In this edition of expert view we hear from a senior economist at Mitsubishi Ufj research and consulting. Opec members have tried many times to set limits on production and push up the price of oil. We asked akuta about the likelihood of a deal being worked out at this weeks meeting . Translator i think it may be difficult for opec members to reach an agreement on a collective output quote. But theres no question all producing countries want the price of crude oil to be higher than it is at the moment. For that reason, they will be striving hard to insure the negotiations do not fail. So i think they will be making some concessions. S. For example, they may try to persuade iran to agree to some degree of output controrol. The price of oil has stabilized under the 50 level. Akuta says this price could rise if producers reach a deal, but its likely to be temporary. Translator if member countries strike a deal that will raise hopes that coordinated Oil Production will continue for some time, leading to a rise in crude oil pricess p abovee the mid 50s per barrel. But at the same time, even if there is an agreement to put quotas on production, not everyone expects this to lead to an actual declees in oil output. If saudi arabia and russia continue their current levels of output, it will not be easy to tighten Global Supply and demand in that case, we expect the price to fall back again to around 50 a barrel. Akuta says he sees the prices rising, but shale oil stands in the way of a sharp rally. I think crude oil prices will rise further after 2017. But this will spark increased production by u. S. Shale oil producers, putting a cap on prices. Many people are coming to the view that crude oil prices will hit a ceiling at around 60 a barrel. You can catch our report again online, together with the full transcript. Look for nhk world and business wrap. Thats a look at business news, i leave you with the markets. Colleagues of diseased belgian filmmake ver helped realize his dream. Jill laurent was working on a documentary about the Fukushima Nuclear disaster when he was killed in brussels in a terror attack. His fellow movie makers came together to help make his final cuts. Nhk worlds nagao has the story. The citity of marseille in Southern France hosted a Film Festival this july. One of the works featured was abandoned land. The documentary looks into the fate of a town called tomioka in the shadow of the Nuclear Power plant in fukushima. Repeporter the film combibi images of a nearly abandoned town undergoing decontamination work, with conversations and natural sounds. It was directed by belgian filmmaker jill laurent. He was married to a japanese woman and lived in tokyo. Laurent began working on the film in 2015, he wanted to depict the unfair situation of the people who suddenly lost everything to the nuclear accident. But laurent himself became a victim of another tragedy. He was back in brussels for editing of the film and here, in this subway station, he was caught in a terrorist attack on march 22. Laurents wife, reiko udo, stood by her husband as he dedicated himself to making the film. Translator he could have survived with a difference of a mere few seconds. His work took him to nearly 40 countries. I have no words for my husbands sudden death on a quiet, peaceful morning in a belglgian subway. Reporter laurents longtime collaborators in belgium have succeeded in c carrying out his intentions. Cyril bibas was working as a producer on the film and has now taken command. Translator we must complete all the unfinished films laurent had put his heart into. Abandoned land was finally completed after five months of editing. At the Film Festival, bibas greeted the audience on behalf of laurent. Translator gilles laurent, who should be standing in my place, is no longer here with us as he became a victim of terrorism. Im honored that his film is being showcased here. R reporter t the film shows people striving for happiness amid theheir troubles. Translator i was really moved by the survivors. Translator seeing them trying to get back on their feet was inspiring. Reporter the film isis set be released in belgium and france and there are negotiations to included in an international Film Festival in kyoto. The message of the film will be shared with more of the world. Nhk world, brussels. One of japans shinkansen bullet trains made an emergency stop on monday after a passengers slithery discovery. There was a 30centimeterlong snake on the train. Its not known how it got on board and officials are looking into whether its native to japan or someones pet. After the emergency stop, police were called in to get the serpent off the train. There are no reports of injuries. The operators Central Japan Railway says the train was put back into Service Several minutes later and did not cause any major delays. Another storm system is about to threaten lives and property in taiwan and eastern china as jonathan oh from our weather desk tess us. It looks like a lot of rainfall and strong storms will be happening through the next couple o of daysys. The storm is categorized as a large storm as well as a strong typhoon. Megi is moving towards taiwan and its going to be likely one of the fifth storm to make impact on it. The fourth one to land it if it continues on its trek. At least for the season. Heres a look at whats happening now. Moving to the westnorthwest at 24 kilometers per hour. The powerful system is expected tacontinue tamove over the island as we go throughout the day tuesday. By wednesday this is expected to fall apart. You may remember what happened to baranti. That storm was south of taiwan. As these systems move over the island, very wet, especially a