Inside the Fukushima Nuclear evacuation zone are still waiting for their owners to return, nearly three years later. A former japanese Prime Minister has assured South Koreans that japan holds an apology he made for its colonial aggression. Tomiichi murayama issued a statement in 1995 on the 50th anniversary of the end of world war ii. He expressed deep remorse and a heartfelt apology for japans colonial rule in asia. Murayama is the former leader of japans social Democratic Party which is currently in opposition. He is on a private visit to south korea, invited by the countrys opposition lawmakers. Translator i am convinced that my statement has national consensus. Therefore, i can assure you that mr. Shinzo abe, as Prime Minister of japan, cannot deny my apology. Murayama called on South Koreans to work to improve relations with japan that have soured over historical and other issues. Translator japan and south korea must maintain friendly ties, for their mutual benefit. The development of the whole asian region and world peace. South korean President Park geunhye reportedly considered meeting with murayama but decided not to. Murayamas good intentions on his visit to seoul my be undermined by developments across the pacific. Lawmakers in the u. S. Are discussing what to call the stretch of water between japan and south korea. The sea of japan is the internationally recognized name. Koreanamericans want textbooks to add their name for it, the east sea. Japanese diplomats are trying to stop that. Nhk worlds hitoshi hiroushi has the story. Reporter sea of japan is a body of water between japan and the korean peninsula. The name is recognized by the international organization. The bill is passed. Reporter but last week, Virginia State house of representatives passed a bill that would give the sea two names in all new textbooks in the state. The other name is the east sea. Once the governor signs the bill it will be in effect from july this year. The koreanamerican community hails the passing of the bill as a victory. The state has over 73,000 korean immigrants. The population has grown by more than 50 in the last decade. This is right thing to do and fair thing to do. Were not trying to take disrespect japan or sea of japan. We still going to keep the sea of japan in the textbooks. We just adding east sea. Reporter to counter the move, officials with the Japanese Embassy in washington have spent thousands of dollars, and hired five lobbying experts from a Major Law Firm in december. The lobbyists say they have met all 140 lawmakers. They argued that sea of japan is the only internationally recognized name, and that the bill should not pass. General assembly as the only state to take this action is breaking the United States policy on the name of the body of the sea of japan. Reporter japanese ambassador to the u. S. Kenichiro sasae has a facetoface meeting with Governor Terry mcauliffe in effort to persuade him not to sign the bill. He also wrote a letter to him. Asking that cooperation and the strong economic ties between japan and virginia may be hampered. He said in the letter. He also noted there are around 250 Japanese Companies that have investment ties with the state. Meanwhile, the federal government appears to stand by the name, sea of japan. U. S. Board on geographic names, standard names for that body of water is the sea of japan. We understand that the republic of korea and others use a different term but that is the term we use. Reporter the koreanamerican community is ready to push the movement elsewhere. Last week, drafts of a similar bill were submitted to new York State Senate and assembly. Analysts here are concerned that a law over sea naming will continue in other states in the u. S. They fear that the relations between americas two main allies in northeast asia might also alter their longrunning disagreements. Nhk world, washington. The japanese government has filed a lawsuit against the captain of a chinese fishing boat that collided with Japan Coast Guard vessels four years ago. In the suit the government is demanding the captain pay the repair costs for the patrol boats. The incident occurred in japanese waters near the Senkaku Islands. Japan controls the islands. China and taiwan claim them. The captain was arrested for obstructing official duties but was later released and sent back to china. In 2011 the coast guard demanded the captain about 140,000. He has sent him 11 demand notices over the past three years, but the captain hasnt paid the repair cost. The lawsuit was filed at a court in okinawa prefecture. By filing the suit the statute of limitations will be automatically suspended. The right to claim damages would expire otherwise. Coast guard officials also decided to make the video of the collision public. The footage was leaked on the internet by one of its officials about two months after the incident. The japanese government maintains the Senkaku Islands are an inherent part of japans territory in terms of history and international law. It says theres no issue of sovereignty to be resolved over the islands. U. S. Ambassador to japan, caroline kennedy, is now visiting the southern prefecture of okinawa. She has told the governor she will cooperate in efforts to reduce okinawas burden of hosting u. S. Military facilities. Antibase demonstrators met the u. S. Envoy at the prefectural office. They held up signs opposing the building of any new u. S. Military facility in okinawa. Some shouted in english, they dont want the controversial osprey transport aircraft there. His meeting with kennedy, governor Hirokazu Nakaima said the hosting of more than 70 of military facilities in japan has given rise to crimes and environmental problems in the prefecture. Translator i hope you will provide leadership in reducing our burden of hosting the bases. Nakaima submitted requests in december for a reduction in bases when he approved a landfill project. The construction is needed to relocate the Futenma Marine corps air station within the prefecture under japan u. S. Agreement. Seeing so many students at the museum was really, i think, a great reminder of the importance of working together to reduce the burden of the American Military presence here. Kennedy told nakaima she will cooperate. She said she wants to help build a future for children in okinawa. The ambassador also referred to the start of japan u. S. Talks on a new treaty over Environmental Inspections of u. S. Military compounds in japan. I think that is a good a good step, and hopefully we can Work Together to keep the momentum moving forward for progress. After the meeting, nakaima told reporters it is difficult to solve the base problem in the shortterm. He said he wants to talk more with kennedy to convey the okinawa peoples sentiments. Japans ranking has fallen in the World Press Freedom index. Reporters without borders downgraded the country by six notches in its annual listing. This follows the passing of the controversial state secrecy law by the abe administration. The parisbased media rights watchdog released its 2014 World Press Freedom index covering 180 countries and territories. Japans ranking fell from 53rd to 59th. The report says that since the Fukushima Nuclear disaster in 2011, freelance and foreign journalists have often been denied access to News Conference and information by the government, and tepco, the plant operator. The group warns that with the abe governments newly enacted state secrecy law, the fight of freelance reporters will become even more difficult. Other countries to fall in rankings include the United States, which is downgraded from 32nd place to 46th. Edward snowden, a former National Security contractor leaked documents about the countrys data gathering programs. The top eight places are all taken by european nations with finland leading the way. Taiwan ranked 50th, and south korea 57th. China is 175th, ahead of north korea at 179th. Prime minister abe has been asking companies to pay employees more. The labor unions are demanding the same. And ron madison has more on this one. Ron . Thats right, gene. Annual Wage Negotiations in full swing here in japan. The outcome in the car industry will have a strong impact on other industries. Leaders of the auto union say theyll stick to their demand for higher base of pay. The confederation of japan automobile workers unions wants to secure senioritybased pay increases. All its member labor unions plan to seek a basic wage hike for the first time in five years. Union leaders at toyota motor, honda, mazda, suzuki, and fuji heavy are all asking for an average increase of nearly 40 a month in the basic wage. Translator we have tried to reinforce the foundation of our business, and improve quality. Management should accept our request. He added that unions may face tough negotiations with their managers. Thats because the Business Environment remains uncertain amid a volatile global economy, and more intense competition with foreign rivals. Well, more and more people around the world are developing a taste for japanese cuisine it seems. That helped to boost exports of japanese Food Products to a record high last year. Agriculture Ministry Officials say japan exported food stuffs worth about 5. 4 billion in 2013. Thats up 22 in yen terms from the previous year. Its also the highest figure since the Ministry Began keeping records in 1955. Exports of scallops, apples, they doubled while shipments of sake, miso paste and soy sauce each grew nearly 20 . Shipments to other parts of asia accounted for more than 70 of japanese food exports last year. Vietnam imported 36 more. And exports to thailand rose 30 . Translator it is great news. We will work harder to achieve our goal of expanding food exports to 10 billion by 2020. He says lingering concerns about food safety after the Fukushima Nuclear disaster are causing markets like hong kong, taiwan and china to place restrictions on imports of japanese food stuffs. He says the ministry is asking those markets to remove the restrictions by presenting data showing that japanese food is safe. Lets get a check of 9 markets now. European equities are building on recent gains, as strong trade data out of china is boosting sense im. Markets in europe are looking like this. All of them are turned upward at this hour. London is up by by a quarter percent. Gains of 0. 9 for frankfurt. Perhaps up more than half a percent. Mining shares are gaining on receding fears about a slowdown in commodity demand, thats as growth in chinas imports and exports beat the market consensus in january. Now earlier in asia Investor Sentiment was supported by u. S. Fed chair Janet Yellens testimony. She reassured the continuity of the current monetary policy. The shanghai composite closed at this years high marking a fourth straight day of gains. While tokyos nikkei rose more than half a percent. And in thailand the s. E. T. Index finished higher by nearly 1. 4 , 1,314. Investors got a bit of relief after the countrys Constitutional Court turned down the opposition partys petitions to void the election that was held earlier in the month. And malaysia the main benchmark there inched up to 1,2825 climbing for a sixth consecutive day. After the market closed the country announced its economy grew 5. 1 in the fourth quarter, and that figure did beat the market consensus. Moving on to currencies. Euro yen trading at 139. 63. The euro fell after the eurozones industrial output in december saw a weaker than expected drop of 0. 7 . Meanwhile dollar yen is at 102. 39 roughly. Thats little changed from the level in tokyo trading hours. Well toyota motor has issued a recall on 1. 9 million prius cars sold worldwide. The automaker says a motorrelated program in its hybrid system has a glitch. Toyota executives say the model being recalled is the one that was sold from may 2009, more than half of the recalls are here in japan. They say the problem is in the software that controls the motor. When a driver accelerates, it causes thermal stress in some parts of the vehicle. Toyota executives say parts can damage as a result, and could make it impossible for the car to start, and might even cause it to stop while in motion. Looks like too many fishermen are catching too many eels. Japanese scientists have come up with a way now, possible solution, to plunging stocks of the slippery creatures. Baby eels need plenty of clean water, but its pretty hard to keep big tanks of water clean enough for largescale production. Now, scientists at the Fisheries Research agency may have solved that problem. A new method could allow cultivation of much larger numbers of eel eggs. Translator this latest development marks a major step toward mass production over years. Agency officials plan to continue the studies with the aim of commercializing the technique. All right. That is going to do it for biz tonight. Lets close things out with the markets. Japanese nuclear regulators have spent more than a year studying a geologic fault under a Nuclear Plant in central japan. Theyve concluded that its not active. Translator we have reached our decision after giving it the most thorough consideration. The Nuclear RegulationAuthority Issued a final report on the f6 fault under the ohi plant. They say the fault is unlikely to be affected by a nearby active fault. Government standards prohibit the construction of reactors and other Key Facilities above faults that have the potential to move. The ohi plant is one of seven Nuclear Plants the regulators have been studying. Regulators concluded last may that a fault under another Nuclear Plant in central japan might move in the future. People who fled their towns and villages after the Nuclear Accident in fukushima have spent nearly three years dreaming of going back. But for many its not just their homes they miss. They had to leave their pets behind. And those animals are struggling to survive another bitter winter. Reporter itate village is in the evacuation zone. High radiation levels forced 6,000 residents to leave. And since then, their pets have been going it alone. Around 200 dogs and 400 cats now spend most of their time living without their owners. Toe hicko sato is one of those owners. Shes living in fukushima city temporarily. Because her apartment there doesnt allow pets, she had to leave her dog tio in itate. Tio is a japanese word meaning son. Sato chose the name, hoping the dog might share its warmth with others. I feel like ive been separated from my child. I miss tio. I talk to his photo every day saying things like good night, or im going now. Evacuees are allowed to visit their former homes during daylight hours. Sato goes twice a week to take care of her dog. Its about an hours drive from fukushima city. Tio was waiting eagerly for her. She fed him some homemade food. She also took the dog for a walk. But, she realized tio had lost weight this winter. On every visit she always leaves a lot of food to keep the dog going until next time. So, she wondered why he was losing weight. An nhk crew set up an infrared camera to investigate. In the middle of the night, rats showed up. They ate some of the food, and took more away with them. Amazingly, they made over 200 raids across the night. By morning, half of the food was gone. Clearly tio wasnt eating enough. Evacuees are not allowed to stay in the village overnight. So, when tio senses its time for sato to leave, he hides his face. Sato is heartbroken about leaving the dog behind, especially with the rat problem. Translator i feel so sorry for tio. I want there to be a safe place where people can live with their family, as well as with their cats and dogs. Thats my dream. Reporter this is the third cinder since the accident at fukushima daiichi. The pets in the village are surviving with only intermittent visits from owners and volunteers. With no hope of life returning to normal soon, the animals and the people who care for them can do little else but keep going, and hope for the best. Japanese ace pitcher tanaka has tried on his new uniform for reporters in new york. Tanaka signed a sevenyear contract with the yankees. The deal has made him the fifth most expensive pitcher in major league history. Team manager joe girardi helped him try on his pinstripes. He said his new japanese acquisition will be a piece of the puzzle in the Yankees Campaign for another world series title. Hello. My name is masahiro tanaka. Im very happy to be yankee. Tanaka says he looks forward to pitching against batters who are mostly new to him. Replica jerseys as well as tanaka tshirts went on sale at a midtown new york Sporting Goods shop. Im getting this for our nephew out in california. And i will probably get a few more, as well, for my three sons. So theyre coming in every day looking for him, so we want him up front and center where they can find him. Tanaka joins the team for the start of Training Camps this weekend in florida. Its flooding in the uk. Our meteorologist robert speta is here with more on that. Robert . Yes, gene. What we have been seeing is just this line of storms continuing to keep it up out here and what that means is yet more rainfall on top of these already saturated grounds. And what happens, youve got rain, it runs on the saturated grounds, it doesnt soak in, and it goes directly into the rivers, and thus more flooding out here. Now our most recent storm system, which is coming in from the west, you can see it here on the satellite picture, really deepening just prior to landfall. What we mean by that is the pressure is going down. That means that wind grading gets tighter, it provides more energy, means more rainfall. But the winds around this up to about 140. Gusts near the coastal areas could be as high as 160 kilometers per hour. Farther inland, much less, granted, but those coastal winds also kicking up those waves to about 15 meters high. Higher elevations looking at snowfall here today, about 10 centimeters could be accumulating. The biggest problem is the rainfall. Numerous flood warnings in effect out here across the river thames, and also over towards somerset, as well, and then you can see the forecast the next 72 hours, just look at that accumulation pile up even more. Its not just here, much of france down towards portugal and spain taking a look at heavy rainfall, as well. As we look farther east towards italy and the balkan peninsula, showers here, too, as a new low pressure system starts to push overhead. Lfr thats actually brought some heavy rainfall in the past 72 hours out there and some areas about 90 to 100 millimeters has been recorded. Take a look at your temperatures, rome with a high of 13, rain showers for you. Athens, similar conditions, up to 19. Vienna at 6, warsaw at four and london you still have those showers, temperatures remaining in the Single Digits. Where its not remaining in Single Digits is down here towards southern australia. At least theres some relief in sight. But right now it is just hot across much of southern australia over towards victoria. I want to take you to a video out of this region, where we have been seeing this heat, and in adelaide, temperatures rose to 42 degrees centigrade here on wednesday. Previously the temperature climbed to that amount a dozen times thus far this year. Needless to say this has been causing problems. Firefighters continuing to battle several blazes. A bush fire in bangor also has burnt 35,000 hectares. And in victoria 50 homes have been destroyed due to these recent fires. Like i said theres some relief in sight. We have several tropical lows combining with a cold front, stretching that moisture across the south, and youre going to be looking at some rainfall going in to latter part of the week out here. Temperatures also starting to fall down. Take a look at this, 43 degrees, absolutely scorching. But now its getting down to 26 there at least by your friday. Canberra at 34, starting to see it drop down to around similar conditions, and sydney staying right around average. Were also expecting showers to start to push through later on this week. Now i do want to talk about whats going on here in eastern asia. High pressure is dominating much of japan and korea. Not going to stay that way, though. What were seeing right now is a new low starting to develop there in eastern china. This could bring some snowfall around the Yangtze River basin. Yet again, like were talking about this time last year is this is going to be one of those Southern Coast lows, and it could bring a wide swath of wintry precipitation up and down the pacific coastline, and including tokyo by friday. Into saturday. Heres the extended forecast. Thats newsline for this hour. Im gene otani in tokyo. Welcome back to the newsroom. Here are the headlines for you this hour. The evacuation of civilians from the ceiling city ofhoms resumes after a oneday suspension link to it deadlocked at the peace talks in geneva. No word on the fate of hundreds of toys and men detained for questioning. Amnesty international slams the violence in Central African republic, calling it ethnic cleansing. The French Defense minister is now ask an International Forces to put an end to attacks between christians and muslims by force if necessary. French president Francois Hollande continues his pr mission in silicon valley