About 100 people spent the night on the second floor of a supermarket. Employees say the floodwater rose to two meters inside the store. They were rescued by helicopters and boats. Theres now about 2,000 selfdefense force personnel, police and firefighters dispatched to the area. Theyre being assisted by 40 choppers. Translator i couldnt go anywhere. I was so isolated. Torrential rainfall also caused damage in neighboring Tochigi Prefecture. A landslide in ckanuma city crushed several homes. Another man who fell into a storm drain was rescued but is still unconscious. The active rain band had moved further north. Japan Meteorological Agency has issued an emergency warning due to record rainfall in miyagi prefecture. Translator a strong rainfall reached a level not previously experienced in miyagi prefecture. Were treating it like a state of emergency. A river in taiwa town overflowed its banks. People are stranded inside. Many cities and towns have issued evacuation orders and advisories. Some incredible images coming in there. Meteorologist robert speta joins us more with whats happening in japan. Yes. And what we are still seeing is actually more rainfall especially across parts of the tohoku region. What i want to break down is what has been happening over the last several days. You can see even at the satellite picture whats going on. This over here is actually whats left of Tropical Storm etau. Thats still moving off towards the northeast. But look on the other side of the screen. This is severe Tropical Storm kilo, still pulling off towards the north. Remember, this was a hurricane stop for hawaii a couple of weeks ago. The combination of these two storms is the catalyst thats been setting up this rain band thats just been persisting and why 551 millimeters there in Tochigi Prefecture fell in a 24hour period. Just an incredible amount of precipitation. One more look at what exactly is going on here talking about that moisture just continuing to come in from the south and the west. Also we had kilo. Then cooler air aloft. Because when that came in, it not only brought the rainfall, it made things unstable. So we have this rain line, but some of the stronger storms popped up. So youre talking over 50 millimeters an hour. I like this image. Because over the koufrscourse o day you had that training effect. This is the kinugawa river. A lot of the precipitation occurred farther to the north but all of that is in the watershed region and it flows downstream. And the levees out here can withstand only so much. Thats what happened here during the afternoon hour when one of those broke. And still, though, were going to be seeing more precipitation specifically in tohoku. That band is switching off to the north. Also hokkaido. Winds gusting 126 kilometers per hour. The reason is we have kilo thats going to be skirting the eastern coastline. But as far as Recovery Efforts in some of the worsthit areas well be seeing improving conditions even sunny skies there by saturday. Thanks very much, robert. Robert will be back later on in the program with more. Businesspeople around the world are concerned about chinas economic slowdown. The latest data on new car sales in the country is deepening those worries. Ramin mellegard joins us from the business desk. Good morning. Are the latest figures more proof of chinas weakening domestic demand . A lot of analysts and economists are looking at these figures, catherine, and it does really point to further concerns about chinas economy. New car sales in china marked a year on year decline for the fifth consecutive month in august. That means total sales saw zero growth. Those numbers spell bad news for a forecast by chinas Auto Industry of 7 growth for the year. The China Association of automobile manufacturers reports about 1. 66 million new vehicles were sold last month. Thats down nearly 3 from a year earlier. Still, consumers bought more Sport Utility vehicles. Sales of sedans fell more than 15 from a year earlier. Demand for trucks and other commercial vehicles also weakened. Japanese automakers sold more than 226,000 vehicles in august, up 1. 7 from a year earlier. But they lost some market share from 4 points from the previous month to under 16 . German automakers took the top position with more than 20 of the chinese auto market. Germans managed to raise sales significantly by lowering prices. Lets have a look at the markets right now. U. S. Stock prices staged a modest rally on thursday with the dow closing up nearly 0. 5 . Theres still a lot of uncertainty over the next weeks Federal Reserve meeting, a lot of focus on that and about Global Growth as well. Now, for more, lets go to mayu yoshida who is standing by at the toke yoke stock exchange. What are you seeing . Good morning, ramin. Chinas slowing economy and the debate over whether well see a wage hike rate hike in the u. S. Lets check the opening levels here in tokyo this friday. The nikkei is opening down 0. 5 . 182008 and the topix is also opening down 0. 5 . Stocks are extending losses on the last trading day of the week, but on the week, the nikkei rose 2. 9 through thursday, but we saw a lot of volatility this week, as you know, with the markets being swayed by massive Short Covering and warnings over asias to two economies. This comes after the weak Capital Spending in japan and declines in car sales in china that you mentioned. On top of these data, we saw the central bank of new zealand cut rates and this indicates its concerns over slowing Global Growth especially in china. So there are increasing worries over the asian economy and the markets are opening lower in the asia pacific region. South koreas koss peay is down 0. 8 . Australias s p asx is in the positive, though. In terms of the u. S. Economy weve been seeing mixed data recently like yesterday we saw weekly jobless claims showing healthier labor market in the u. S. But prices of imported goods posted its biggest drop since january. So we really dont know whether the fed will see the bright side of the economy and raise rates or hold off. So this whole uncertainty is leading is still lingering in the markets. Exactly. Definitely some uncertainty there. But we did see u. S. Stocks post some modest gains. Now, does that mean Market Players are turning a little bit risk adverse . Thats a really good point. I can say the markets are sort of fluctuating between risk on and risk off. So sentiment seems to be changing day by day, but whats likely to support the markets is crude oil. Oil prices rallied on Strong Demand for gasoline buying americans. Some are chipping away the demand for safe haven assets for now. As were seeing a fall in the japanese yen. Dollar yen is around 120. 80, compare that to the lower 120 yen we saw the same time yesterday. Thats it on the markets for now. Ill be back with an update in a few hours. Back to you. Looking forward to that very much. Mayu yoshida reporting for us live from the tokyo stock exchange. Now, authorities in Southern China find a joint venture involving japans nissan motor for price fixing. The guangdong government Officials Say the venture and dealers conspired to set prices on new cars from 2012 to 2014. They say they find Dongfeng Nissen about 20 million. Dongfeng nissan, i being your pardon. Nissan says it accepts the governments decision and will take steps to prevent a recurrence. Chinas been cracking down on what it calls antitrust behavior by foreign automakers. Last year authorities slapped fines on ten japanese auto parts makers as well as dealers handling models made by u. S. And german automakers. Now, fishermen always have a tale about the one that got away. In japan, the talk these days is about the ones that never arrived. Theyre referring to sari, a silver fish with a long history as a favorite dish in japan. Now, researchers say one of the causes lies far from japans coast. Reporter this vessel is heading through international waters. On board is a team of researchers from a japanese institute. As night falls, the team oebs the red glow hovering over the sea. The lights come from foreign fishing boats. The boats are using the lights to lure sari, and theyre catching large amounts. Up to 60 ships have gathered in a small area all racing to haul in fish. They are free to catch as much as they want. There are no regulations governing sari fishing in international waters. Sari migrate across the pacific between summer and autumn. But in recent years, the flotilla of foreign boats intercepts them before they reach japans coastal waters. Many of the fish end up in taiwan. Now a major market for sari. Taiwanese boats hauled in 230,000 tons of the fish last year overtaking japan as the worlds biggest catch. This is a base for taiwans sari fishing. This ship is more than 70 meters long pushing a thousand tons through the water. Thats 50 times the size of a typical japanese sari boat. Its essentially a floating fishery. And taiwan has more than 90 of the them. Inside, the equipment is on an industrial scale including the freezers. This one can hold up to 850 tons of the fish. During the high season, the crew can fill this space in about two weeks. But fully loaded ships dont return to port. Instead, they offload their cargo on carrier vessels which make regular trips from taiwan to collect the frozen sari. That allows the fishing boats to stay at sea for six months at a time, meaning the owners can catch more fish at less cost. Translator taiwans sari fishery has maintained stable growth over the years. This has been helped by improvements in Fishing Technology and marketing techniques. Taiwan will continue its sari fishing in international waters. From japan, china, taiwan and four other countries met for the first time in tokyo to discuss the situation. Japans chief delegate said Marine Resources must be used sustainably and called for international measures such as fishing regulations. The group will meet on a regular basis, but some doubt whether china, taiwan and other countries will agree to japans call for regulation. The discussion appears to be headed for rough waters. Thats it for Business News for this hour. But ill leave you with another check on the markets. 4 1 2 years ago on march 11th, 2011, a major earthquake and tsunami struck japans northeastern region. The resulting devastation left thousands homeless and providing adequate housing for evacuees in the three hardesthit prefectures remains a major challenge. Police say the disaster left over 18,000 people dead or missing. Government Authorities Say more than 3,000 others died in shelters or from disasterrelated causes. Officials at the Reconstruction Agency say as of august 13th, over 140,000 people are still living in temporary housing in miyagi, iwate and fukushima prefectures. Nearly 11,000 units of Public Housing for evacuees had been completed by july in the three prefectures, but that still represents only 37 of the original target. A Public Initiative is also under way to relocate communities to higher ground. Its part of an effort to improve preparedness against future tsunami. Land development has been completed for close to 5,000 homes, but thats just 24 of the final goal. About 70,000 residents of areas near the crippled Fukushima DaiichiNuclear Plant are still living in shelters or have started new lives in other places due to evacuation orders. The government has lifted the orders for some zones, but the Living Environment in those communities has yet to improve for survivors who want a new start. Flashing lights, gleaming chrome and artistic flair, decoration trucks adorn japans highways. The drivers are usually viewed as maverick road warrior, but as nhk world reports, theyre also uniting to support those affected by the 2011 disaster. Reporter truck after truck arrive. More than 500 rumble into an open space in the city of ishinomaki in northeastern japan. A place devastated by the tsunami in 2011. The decorated truck culture goes back decades. Truckers decorate their rigs for the long journey. Lights decorated with pictures and whether you consider it gaudy, it doesnt come cheap. Drivers spend around 100,000 on average adding bling to their wheels. Some paint their beloved family. Translator the girl in the center is my eldest daughter. My truck, my daughter, theyre both dear to me. It makes me feel like im always driving with her. And it encourages me to work hard. Reporter and theyre also encouraged by helping the needy. When disaster strikes, they converge and dedicate themselves to the cause. This man helps a group. Hes been at the wheel for half a century and keeps on trucking. He calls on his fellow truckers to gather in ishinomaki for a festival honoring the souls of the dead. Translator coming to the disaster area makes me feel so driven to do something. Reporter his team has been supporting disaster victims for three decades. 4 1 2 years ago they delivered supplies and cooked hot meals for survivors of the earthquake and tsunami. And every month since theyve visited temporary housing complexes to encourage the survivors. Translator i always finish what i start. Thats my motto. And i never forget. For many people, the memory of the disaster is gradually fading. But i believe the rebuilding process has just begun. Reporter this is one of those benefited from the group. Translator this is the tsunami line. It came up here. It was the first time i learned how terrifying a tsunami is. Reporter his restaurant was damaged. But he felt encouraged by the lights of the trucks. Today, he works with the team to appeal for nationwide support to rebuild the region. Translator after 4 1 2 years, i dont think anything is changed in my hometown. I want people to know the disaster is not yet over. Reporter more than 10,000 people came to pray for those who lost their lives including those still living in the temporary shelters. Two of them came looking for tajima. They wanted to thank him for organizing the soup kitchen in may. Translator it was more than a soup kitchen. You treated us with such heartfelt hospitality. We always talk about you and wonder when youll come back. Translator we truckers often have checkered pasts. So when people say we make them happy just like you do, that helps us get back on our feet. Reporter at the end of the event, the trucks lit up creating a symbolic path to the road ahead. The light on as many people in the region as i possibly can. Especially those living in the temporary shelters. Reporter tajima says hell continue to lead the convoy until not a single temporary shelter remains. Reporting for nhk world from ishinomaki. More people are buying books online, and that has some traditional book sellers worried. Now one major japanese book store chain has taken a bold step to get customers back into stores. Nhk world has more. Reporter this is the Tokyo Flagship store. People are lining up to buy copies of an authors latest work. Hes bought up 90 of initial print run of 100,000 copies of the latest book. This is an unusual move for a japanese book store. Typically retailers buy smaller amounts even of books they believe will become best sellers. But he plans to sell many of these volumes to other retailers. By doing this, they ensure that more copies end up in the real book stores. Managers plan to sell half of what they buy at the 170 global branches. The rest will go to other book shops in japan. And by ensuring that popular books go to brick and mortar shops rather than the internet, they hope to keep the tradition of buying real books in real stores alive. We want to send the message that good books are at book stores. The real ones on the street. We hope that will provide a spark and help to revitalize the publishing industry. Reporter some customers are welcoming the new approach. Translator i think the new strategy is good. I love books, and i want to buy them at actual book stores. Reporter but the situation for such retailers has not been good in recent years. Over the past decade, more than 5,000 book stores have shut down nationwide. Customers are turning to online sellers. We asked people which they prefer. Translator i buy on the internet. I can buy books anywhere, even using my cell phone. Its very convenient. Transfer i prefer book stores because i can touch the books, look inside and compare them. Reporter internet retail giant amazon has become the overwhelming leader in the field. One amazon executive says the tactics might bring people back into bookstores and make reading books even more popular. Translator we welcome such moves if they appeal to customers. I think the company has a Good Opportunity to make people more interested in having books. Reporter by adopt iing new styles of marketing one book seller is hoping to help his customers rediscover the dharm of an old tradition. Reporting from tokyo. Its time for a check of the weather. Thousands of people in japan are being impacted by a storm. Many are still stranded and waiting to be rescued. Rescue crews need the weather to cooperate. Meteorologist robert speta joins us again with more. Over the next 24 hours well start to see an improvement in some of the hardesthit areas in central portions of japan. You can see on the satellite picture that whole rain band is slowly drifting off here towards the east. The heaviest rainfall still lingering right near the coastline. So there in miyagi prefecture over towards ibaraki. Were seeing the high level of warnings in place across much of this area. But as this drifts off to the north, you can still see an additional 200 millimeters of rainfall. Even parts of hokkaido, 150 millimeters possible out of this. We have our severe Tropical Storm kilo which will skirt the coastline. You can see typhoonstrength gusts coming out of this storm system. So an ongoing situation there. But as far as these areas where you really need the recovery effort in place, you are going to be seeing much drier, clearer skies work their way in. Even in tokyo, youre looking at sunny skies. This will go ahead into your friday and saturday here. One of the bigger issues is temperatures will be warming up so as far as the Recovery Efforts people do want to stay hydrated because theres even the risk of heat stroke. Thats going to be one of the things we want to continue to monitor. As far as the forecast elsewhere in eastern asia, still looking at the drier weather filtering in across parts of the Korean Peninsula and into shanghai. And in the south the rainy season. Continuing to linger there in Southern China so some areas could see an additional 50 to 60 millimeters of precipitation as wings through your friday. Lets see whats going on through europe here. The big topic has been the storm system that started in spain and pushed over towards the balkan peninsula. This is video coming out of serbia because this is very tragic. Thousands of migrants in serbia who have been forced to take shelter after the wet weather from the storm system hit the area. They camped in parks, small tents and also took shelter inside public garages. Others use plastic sheets to cover themselves and their belongings and many just tried to stay under something and nearby buildings, for example. The foul weather is making this refugee situation definitely very difficult for these people. At least volunteers are going out, theyre helping people on the ground. Theyre providing blankets, sleeping bags, some food, so people are getting some help. But this is already a situation that is very rough on thousands of people trying to traverse across this entire area. Were actually going to see more rainfall and theres a threat of severe weather. Excessive precipitation even large hail could be coming out of this storm system. It will be in some localized region but rainfall across the board through the next 24 hours. Ill leave you now with your extended outlook. And thats all for this edition of newsline. Im Catherine Kobayashi in tokyo. Thanks for staying with us. On this edition of native report, we meet emma garrett, a skilled basket maker of the eastern band of cherokee nation. We learn how the ojibwe view the stars in the night sky. And well learn about the evolution of federal indian law. Beginnings of oklahoma indian law go all the way back to the early removals and the trail of tears. Well also learn something new about Indian Country and hear from our elders, on this native report. Production of native report is made possible by grants from the Shakopee MdewakantonSioux Community and the blandin foundation