The business team. U. S. President donald trump claims that japan weakened their currencies to take advantage of the u. S. And boost exports at the top of trumps agenda as the task of cutting the u. S. Trade deficit he puts some of the blame on what he views as unfair practices by americas trading partners and he is vowing to do something about it. Every other country lives on devaluati devaluation. You look at what china is doing and japan done over the years they play the money market and devaluation market and we stand there like a bunch of dummies. The president has already attacked china repeatedly on the issue as many economists believe beijing intervened in the market in the past to keep their money low. Japans Prime Minister abe has dismissed trumps claim. Translator japans Monetary Policy is designed to aa 2 inflation taverting and its trusted to the bank of japan. The criticism that japan is guiding the yen lower is unfounded. Reporter abe said he will explain this, if necessary, when he meets with trump on february 10th in washington. Abe said its important for both nations to exchange views on economic issues, including currencies and trade. Japans vice minister of finance for International Affairs has also responded to trumps comments. Translator if he was talking about intervention to sell the yen and buy the dollar, japan hasnt done that for some time. We are not engaged in manipulation. We need more explanation to understand what the president is talking about. Reporter japan has not intervened in the currency markets for more than five years. Checking the markets following trumps comments, it rebounded and tokyo rode the volatility to end in the positive. We have more from the yoke stock exchanges. They try to make sense of President Trumps latest markets but they regained momentum as the dollar rebounded. Lets take a look at the closing levels this wednesday, february 1st. Two days of losses and ended up more than a half of a percent and closing at 19,148. Looking at currencies, the dollar plunged to a twomonth low against the yen. After trump accused japan and china of manipulating their currencies. Looking at some stock highlights. Earning results have come in. Mitsubishi motors jumped more than 12 than previously forecast for the year in part due to a weaker yen. Alps electric and japan display ended higher after the earnings for the october to december quarter topped Market Expectations and thanks to the iphone 7. Nintendo tell more than 2 after the company slashed its fullyear operating profit outlook and citing weak game downloads for its consoles. Moving on to other markets in Asian Pacific region. Hong kong was back from a holiday catching up with the recent global sellout caused by concerns over trumps policy. Finishing at 23,318 with financials leading the losses. Kospii 2080 for the close. The latest trade data shows exports jumped in january and biggest rise in nearly five years. Market analysts in toke says the yen will likely weaken against the dollar over the long term. Cakeo of a trust bank says Donald Trumps investment will support a u. S. Recovery and such measures along with u. S. Monetary policy can be expected to widen the gap between u. S. And japanese Interest Rates and result in a stronger dollar, but in the near term she suggested trumps tactics on trade and the Exchange Rate would weaken the dollar against the yen. I told you. Translator President Trump makes unpredictable remark which inflame investor concerns and if he takes a hardline stance on trade and implements a currency policy aiming at weakening the dollar, the yen will, for a short time, strengthen against the dollar, and stock prices will go lower. Its not just investors concerned by trump policies. Many Business Leaders are too and which those in japan who do business internationally. Trump wants to renegotiate the north American Free trade agreement or impose higher tariffs on products from mexico. We want to hear on what is on the minds of some of these objectives. Reporter here is a chairman of a auto parts manufacturer in japan. He is worried trump has expressed the idea of imposing taxes on cars imported in mex o mexico. Translator im not able to protect President Trumps protectionist point of view. R reporter his company manufactures bearings used in car engines worldwide. The firm has a plant in mexico. The country used to run a factory in ohio but the plant was forced to shut down as its losses grew on the back of the Global Financial crisis in 2008. The Company Started operations in mexico three years ago a as new production site for the north american market. It spent nearly 80 million to build this factory, which has grown to become the companys second biggest manufacturing facility. Handji thinks that any changes in the nafta rules would affect the globals supply system. Hehe fears the costs will be prohibitive. Translator should we move our production somewhere else from mexico . Its not an easy decision. Yoyou need skilled workers to manufacture the parts. Repeporter another car part maker in central japan is also staying alert. It produces steering columns. The company was planning to expand its output in mexico by investing 300 million in the next five years. But officials are worried not only about the possibility of higher tariffs, but alslso by possible changes in the socalled rules of origin. Under current nafta rules the mexican portion of the vehicles components and processing has to be more than be 60 to be duty free. Translator we do the heating process here before we ship these parts to mexico. Reporter they fear a change in the rules could mean this heating process would need to oe done in north america and that would have a big effect on the companys investment plans. The rule will be changed at the na frfnafta agreement. We have to consider our consistent investments so some component maybe we are facing some difficulties to produce in mexico. Reporter an expert says the current confusion is a headache for japanese businesses. He says rewrite the nafta rules is unrealistic. If United States put on, say, 75 of additional duty on cars coming from mexico, thats already quite serious by infringement to its wdo commitment. But this kind of uncertainty is a really is a heavy cost imposed on japanese cars. Reporter many experts point out that while a trade war would put a heavy burden on japanese manufacturers, American Consumers could be the ultimate losers. They might have to pay more and have less choice. The question is, is that what donald trump really wants . You can catch our report online with a full transcript and look for nhk world and business wrap. That is it for business world. Im going to leave you with the markets. Former u. N. Secretary general ban kimoon hasas decid not to run for president of south korea. He m met with leaders of a conservative party. Translator i will give up my pure hope of achieving a change in politics under my leadersrsh and unifying the country. Ban expressed disappointment with the oldfashioned south korean politicians. He said he concluded that its going to go forward with them. He apologized to his supporters. South korean supporters say his announcement will have a huge impact on the president ial election. They will be held sometime this year. He returned to south korea last year after ten years after u. N. Secretary general. He had been considering whether to launch a campaign, it has influenced his decision. Recent opinion polls have him in second place among possible candidates. Japans top court has issued landmark ruling where people want information scrubbed from the internet. The Supreme Court stopped short of acknowledging a right to be forgotten but said data should be deleted when a persons privacy overrides freedom of expression. The ruling stems from a legal petition in a case six years ago he claims it included news articles about his arrest. A lower court ruled in his favor saying he had a right to be forgotten. The Tokyo High Court reversed that ruling. The Supreme Court said internet searches are an important means for getting information from a vast fulull of data. The Court Dismissed the plaintiffs petition. It sayays thatat child prostitu must be strongly condemned and society focuses a great deal of attention on such crime. Its been two years since Islamic State militants announced the death of goto. Reporter two years after the announcement of the death of kenji goto, his friend is still trying to piece together what happened. Hello. Reporter hello. So it is ive written this. Reporter the paraspace journalist recently published a tribute to gotos life titled a message of life. Translator at the time, the air raids on isil territory were becoming more and more intense, but no media was inside the territory to tell stories about ordinary people who were affected there. I believe he wanted to go inside there to find out how the lives of innocent civilians really were. Reporter kenny goto was a freelance journalist and made numerous trips to troubled regionss in the middle east and africa. In o october 2014, he e entered syriria. He left a message on his phone that he would head t to isils stronghold raqqa. Since after militants held him at hostage and announced his death in 2011. He often tried to give help to thosose who fell victim to conflict, sometimes even with his own money. Translator he hated to be called a warar correspondent. He used to say he would not go to cover fighting in wars. He wanted to depict the ordinary lives behind the front line. He felt responsible for people whom he got to know. He wanted to do everything he everything he could for them. There are others who are remembering him, too. Last saturday, a play based on his life was presented at a church in tokyo. He was asked to give a talk about his friends life there. Translator it makes me think that he probably had a lot more he wanted to tell us. Reporter he says the image his quiet gaze during his time as a hostage left a lasting impression on him. Traranslator r in the end, i believe goto accepted his fate and even though his life was going to end soon, he was ready to face it. I think he felt he had done his best. But just like a grain of wheat that falls onto the earth and bears much fruit, his death had a meaning. His passing made his spirit live forever. Reporter goto had said that individuals may only have a small amount of power. But we must believe we are not powerless. His message continues to inspire people. Japans Prime Minister has requested a visit by the pope. He met with gallagher in tokyo who serves as the Prime Minister. The two agreed to work to developing nations and the environment. In 1981 john paul, ii john paul the first Roman Catholic minister to visit japan. Japans Environment Ministry is planning an ambitious target for energy production. It will recommend the country create more than 90 of its power using socalled low carbon methods by 2050. That includes Nuclear Power. The Paris Agreement on Climate Change requires japan to present its plan to the United Nations by 2020. A panel appointed by the Environment Ministry is now joining the proposal. The Ministry Says renewable sources like solar and wind power and Nuclear Power will be a part of the plan. It will also recommend research into emissions trading systems, as well as carbon taxes on fossil fuels. Opposed to heavy users such as steel and electricity companies. The Power Company has abandoned its plan to use coal instead of oil at one of its thermal power plant. Coal is cheaper but is a contributor to emissions. Coal is cheaper but a major source of Carbon Dioxide emissions. The e utility unveililed on tutuesday. It had o originally plplned to ststt usining coal at t a plant western japan in 2020. The utility says the decision was made to address global warming. As a result of the Nuclear Disaster in 2011, utilities have made plans to switch from Nuclear Power to coal, but observers say the recent decision may have an industrywide effect on those plans. Now to a topic that has millions of people in japan covering up their faces. Weather forecasters say pollen season has started again around tokyo. People are doing their best to avoid the itchy sniffles. Miksao onoiso has more. When you look around tokyo, you could ask yourself if there is a daily outbreak of some sort. No, these people are t trying t protect themselves from pollen. Translator i will be sneezing and my eyes will get red and itchy. My nose is really runny. Reporter every year around this time, the forest in the tokyo suburbs, through what comes naturally release pollen, lots of it. And for allergy sufferers, this creates lots of misery. Garcia finds it hard to work. So he chose a company that supports his efforts to keep the sniffles at bay. His firm lets him work from a pollenffree part of the count. For t the past few years, he communicated from okinawa during this season. His company paid up to about900 for the relocation expenses. Translator i it was great reporteter for those who arent him, there are less costly ways to dodge pollen. Watching the news and the 24 foforecast sent 1,000 of theses robots around the e countrtry t monitored the pollen count. The little guys sucking air through their mouths and the pollen content is analyzed. The eyes grow in different colors depending on the amount and purplele means there is a hh level. Translator by knowing how much pollen is in the air, people can come up with ways to avavoid it. So we hopepe it will help them. Reporter there is hope for allergy sufferers. Research is in the works. Some is currently on display at this museum. A biotech project aims to develop something that have split the pollen components. The idea is to familiarize the body with pollen. Translator the hope that people will not have allergy symptoms. Reporter research isnt exactly going to provide a quick fix. So for this season, gagarachi thinks the best defense is to get away. Translator the pollen season is long. So being able to go away even for a month of that period will help me get through. Reporter as for the rest of allergy sufferers, the best way is maybe to cover up. Japanese officials are trying to make foreign visitors to find their way around in advance of the Tokyo Olympics and paraolympics in 2020. Reporter early in january, we talked about a lot of rainfall that was pushing through the area. Flooding problems. Heavy snow problems. It really was a mess for a while. And now we had a period of dry season, a lilittle bit, at leas the past week or so. But the rain is s starting to ce baback into the picturere. You may notice these bright white clouds will look over the pacific moving on shore. Thats ahead of a really well developed low pressure system that will continue to push toward the east. We are looking at relatively dry conditions as we go throughout the next couple of days. As you progress through the rest of the week, thats when we will add onto the rainfall totals and may be dealing with some flash flooding problems. So be aware of. That elsewhere around the United States, were looking at relatively calm conditions. We pay be dealing with snowfall up towards the upper rockies. We do have snowfall likely to take place north of the great lakes into portions of canada and toronto, as a low pressure system responsible for bringing weather continuing to push toward the east. The New England States will be dealing with some of that winter weather. Be on the lookout for. That i want to once again point out the rainfall that may be coming up later on this weekek. Some areas could see close to 18 millimeters of rainfall in a relatively short period of time. Especially as you go toward the end of the week. So please be prepared for the possibility of maybe heavy rain from time to time. For now, los angeles and southern california, 21, a little cooler into denver and oklahoma city. Warmer in houston wotj a high of 26 degrees. Snow possibly into toronto for wednesday. Now, you look at the forecast for europe. We are looking at rain coming into the picture for the western portions of the continent. We do have a cold front that is coming on shore. Thats going to bring some rain and windy conditions not only to the British Isles but the iberian peninsula. Up toward the north, we already had a cold front sweeping through. And the scandinavian peninsula. That will bring some wet weather, windy conditions, maybe some heavy rainfall. Also a low pressure system towards the center of the continent may be dealing with with some heavier rainfall and heavier snowfall as well. A cold arctic air is going into the eastern side of the continent. It will help keep those temperatures slow. It wont be such a huge cold blast that we talk about significant drops into the freezing area, but still its chilly here. Negative 3 in kiev, moscow looking at snow. Vienna with snow as well with a high of 1. And rain expected in london into lisbon as you go throughout the day. Now, here in japan, we have been dealing with some clouds moving into the area. Really up to the north, where we are e seeing the sea eect t sno ths wherere we are e seeing things pick up because of a frontal passage. Wewe are looking at more of the snow as we go throughoutut the next several hours. Going toto thudaday morning, looking at anywhere up to 40 centimeters of snow and waves up to 5 meters so be on the lookout for that. We are looking at temperatures to slowly warm up as we go into saturday and rain coming back into the picture on sunday. We are also looking at the possibility of pollen starting to fly around as you see temperatures warm up as well, starting on february 10 as you go around the month. Should hit the north and east at that time. I hope you have a good day wherever you are. Heres your extended outlook. Japanese officials are trying to make it easier for foreign visitors to find their way around prior to the paralympics and olympics in 2020. A panel appointed by the Environment Ministry is now joining the proposal. The Ministry Says renewable sources like solar and wind power will be a part of the plan. Officials are responding to complaints from foreign visitors that some japanese are obscure and hard to understand. The approved signs are expected to come into effect around judgment. One of the symbols is for parking lots. Its the letter p. The revised one includes a car. If you need to change a babys diapers in the nursing room the new symbol is a bit easier to understand. People who need firstaid will no longer have to look for signs showing a hand, just this cross symbol. But some w wont change. Many peoeople in the hospitatal industry wanted to preserve the traditional hot spngngs syolol. Officials decided to keep it, along with the redesigned version which shows people soaking in hot water. Thats all for this edition of nhk newsline. We will bring you the latest at the tu18186n u this is france 24. Time for 60 minutes live around the world. Here are the headlines. Far right president ial candidate Marine Le Pen in france is facing a financial scandal. She is set to lose 7000 euros a month from her job as a member of the european parliament. That is after defying demands to repay close to 300,000 euros. The eu says she misspent on aids. Misspent on