coast. she said some regions remain dangerous. she promised to travel to the worst-affected areas. about a million people who live on the coast were evacuated. some are taking refuge on higher ground. they endured nighttime temperatures as low as 5 degrees celsius. authorities say emergency crews are still trying to reach some hard-hit areas. officials with japan's meteorological agency say tsunami waves triggered by the quake have reached the country 23 hours later. they've issued an advisory for the pacific and island chains. they say tsunami of 40 centimeters was observed on friday in northeastern japan. that's at 7:15 a.m. local time. waves of 10 to 20 centimeters were also noticed in neighboring areas. the advisory covers japan's pacific coast and the island chains of okinawa, amami, ease interview, and ogasawara. it will be in effect for awari prefecture, the oita prefecture, the western coast of kagoshima prefecture and others. local government officials are urging people to avoid coast lines and estuaries until they lift the tsunami advisory. japan's governing parties are gearing up for the final round of debate over a set of security bills and they're preparing for pushback inside the diet from members of the largest opposition. the democratic party has have youed to do all they can to block the legislation from passing. members of the opposition crowded around the committee chairperson in an attempt to stop the voting. lawmakers of the ruling pushed the vote. the majority endorses the bills. it paved the way for the bills to reach the plenary session of the upper house. the lower house had already approved the bills in july. the democratic party presented two censure motions, one against the upper chamber standing committee chairman, and the other against defense minister nakatani. the motions were voted down early friday morning local time. the party submitted a no-confidence motion against the presidents of the upper house. the legislation would allow the country to exercise its right to collective self-defense. it would also expand the role of japan's self-defense forces abroad. leaders of five opposition parties, including the democratic party, will meet to jointly present a no-confidence motion against the cabinet. the democratic party also plans to submit a censure motion against prime minister shinzo abe. the governing and other parties plan to vote them down as quickly as possible. diet rules say the motions must be addressed before voting on the new legislation. policymakers at the u.s. central bank have decided to leave their benchmark interest have weighed in on what the interest rate should be. ramin mellegard joins us to talk about that. >> policymakers at the u.s. central bank have decided to leave their benchmark interest rate unchanged at near zero percent. the u.s. federal reserve chair janet yellen announced the decision in a news conference after the two-day meeting. she said economic activity in the u.s. is expanding at a moderate pace. however, she pointed out that further downward pressure on inflation in the near term is likely. yellin's first step to hike rates depends on whether the u.s. employment continues to improve and price increases are seen. >> the committee continues to anticipate that the first increase in the federal funds rate will be appropriate when it has seen some further improvement in the labor market and is reasonably confident that inflation will move back to its 2% objective over the medium term. >> yellin said many policymakers believe a rate rise would be appropriate within the year and that certainly includes the october meeting. federal reserve has kept its key interest rate close to zero since late 2008 after the global financial crisis erupted. now for details, he is the chief researcher at namora research institute, thank you very much for being here and obviously just want to go right into the -- what the officials have said. 9-1 votes to keep the rates as they are. what's your take on the reasoning behind their decision? >> well, first of all, thank you very much for having me. in light of the u.s. economic fundamentals or strength of u.s. fundamental economic activities, i think it's already mature to do something. but still in light of the situation of global economies, as well as global financial markets, i think they would like to confirm this would be a an event. these are the factors i think the market had expected, already expected to hear. but that said i think that in addition, after hearing the comments by her and the press conference, i think another emerging factor would be the distill lating or prospects of 2% inflation in the interim. that would be problematic for the reserve's monetary policy. >> the fed's going to meet two more times this the year in october and in december. fed chief janet yellen obviously gave some hints in her news conference. when do you see the fed actually moving on rates? and could it be as early as next month? >> yeah, i think that the -- in order to conduct appropriate management of the money policy by the fed, i think the closer factor or most important factor will be the future -- near-term future of development and the u.s. fundamental economy. that's why i believe, or in my view, that the december meeting will be appropriate. because it's a time when the fed members can revise their own outlook next time. >> we've seen the impact on asian economies of capital outflows from emerging economies and the stronger dollar. but what impact do you think this is going to have on japan and maybe the other asian economies longer term? >> first of all, in terms of the impacts on asian involvement, i think that the -- if and when the federal reserve would start normalizing the policy rate, i don't think that the -- we could see the substantial additional impact on the future of the asian economy and fundamental systems. first of all, most of the important factors for the instabilities of asian financial markets are also -- in a sense, all oriented there. such as the fiscal deficit there, or the international deficits or something like that. in addition, i think that the -- according to the document released, the prospect of the rate hike will be much slower than previous cases. so i believe that as a result, i think the pace of the depreciation of the u.s. dollar as a result, would be as slow as the pace of the rate hike. >> well, it's highly anticipated, of course, the move. and we'll all be watching for that. thank you very much for your time. with us, the chief researcher at namora research institute. let's see how the markets are reacting to the federal reserve's decision to keep rates near zero. and for that we go to our ma ewe she'd destanding by the tokyo stock exchange. what's the reaction so far in the markets this morning? >> good morning, ramin. at long last the fed's decision is finally out but it's another wait and see game. that's why there's uncertain doctor. the opening level, one of the first markets in asia to react to that decision. it's friday, september 18th. the nikkei is opening down over 1%. the topix down 1.5%. no rate hike this time means there's still uncertainty when the rate hike might occur and the markets hate uncertainty. ramin, immediately after the long-anticipated announcement, u.s. stocks fluctuated between gains and losses and ended the day mixed as the dow closed down .4% after going up over 1 and the tech-heavy nasdaq ended a touch higher. the reaction in asia among benchmarks that are open, they are responding negatively. we're seeing a degree of caution after that choppiness on wall street. kospi opening down .25%. australia down .40%. australia has strong economic ties with china and yellin's speech is fueling concerns over global growth. one analyst said the fed's decision was a matter of credibility rather than about china. he said the fed's credibility would have been compromised if it went ahead with a rate hike because the international monetary fund and the world bank were telling the fed not to do it this time. but still many market players believe that china would continue to be a drag on the market. the interesting thin is that unlike yell len who said china's a big concern, bank of japan governor kuroda said earlier this week that everything's fine and what happens in china will not hit japan. so the comparison between yellen and kuroda is interesting, something we want to keep track of. >> maya, we've seen the impact on stocks. what are we seeing as far as commodities, currencies and bond markets? >> to make it simple, stocks are down a dollar. bond markets and gold prices are rallying. one analyst said the biggest surprise was the fed's comments were really jobbish. low rates usually weaken the dollar. but one currency dealer said the dollar's fall is pretty temporary as there's still a chance of a rate hike in october. that's keeping the door open for the dollar to gain in the upcoming months. the dollar is lower, below 120 yen. and one thing to keep in mind is japan is head formal a long holiday through wednesday. if you're a money manager it's your last time to make hedges and sell stocks. we may see more down trend throughout the day. it's already down over 200 points right now for the nikkei. >> we'll definitely keep track of that. thank you very much, maya ashe'd delive at the tokyo stock i guess exchange. president xi jinping said their countries play an important role in the global economy. the meeting came ahead of xi's visit to the u.s. next week. he said the slow-down of the chinese economy is as a result of a shift in its development pattern and economic restructuring. he said china still has great potential and remains capable of generating moderate to high-speed growth. xi noted china and the u.s. had a responsibility to lead the global economy and maintain stability in the global financial sectors. that's it for business news for this hour but we'll leave you with another check on the markets. thursday marked one month since the dead hi explosion in bangkok. investigators have arrested two foreign men for their suspected involvement in the bombing that killed 20 people but they're still looking for 11 other suspects. nhk world has the latest on the police search. >> reporter: most people in thailand are buddhists. but the suspects were hiding in a district with many muslim residents. about an hour's drive from central bangkok. the group used this apartment as a safehouse. a foreigner who called himself adam was arrested here. this was a major breakthrough in the investigation. a large number of muslims have moved to this district from other countries. local people say the bombers didn't attract suspicion. >> translator: they spoke what sounded like a middle eastern language but they didn't look like terrorists. >> reporter: police confiscated ball bearings, the same type as the ones used in the attack. and more than 200 fake turkish passports. this fake passport was allegedly issued for the man who calls himself adam. the quality is poor. the expiry date is printed twice. forgeries of official documents are not unusual in bangkok. the owner of this shop showed us samples of counter fit driver's licenses and student i.d. cards. >> reporter: one of the suspect s police to enter thailand. the widespread use of fake passports and lax border security made it easier for the group to carry out its activities. investigators haven on how the raised funds. from february last year to march this year, about $40,000 was remitted to the suspects from foreign sources. these included accounts held by turkish people. the number of uighurs entering thailand illegally has surged since 2011. that's when the chinese government stepped up its repressive policy against the minority. many uighurs travel to turkey through central asia. but they began using southeast asian routes after the crackdown was tightened. police suspect the group held uighurs to illegally enter turkey with fake passports. they say the group's members harbor a grudge against the thai authorities for obstructing their operations and that's why they carried out the bombing. but why did the group resort to terror attacks that could harm many civilians? an expert points to an incident in july. about 100 uighurs who had entered thailand illegally were deported to china. the images of uighurs with their heads covered in black hoods sparked an international outcry. uighurs in turkey attacked the thai consulate. >> translator: it's obvious that the attacks are linked to the deportations. but the thai government has refused to acknowledge the connection. because if it does, it will be criticized for what it has done. >> reporter: the bombers chose an unlikely target, central bangkok. the thai authorities have yet to grasp one month after the explosion. nhk world, bangkok. on the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings, a young man from the united states visited hiroshima and nagasaki on a personal mission. nhk world's chie yamagishi reports. >> reporter: like many others, ari beser visited the two cities to witness the commemorative ceremonies held there. but the 27-year-old journalist will stay in the country long afterwards to listen to the stories of atomic bomb survivors. beser is posting what he learns from them on the blog of a u.s. magazine. >> reporter: he feels that the 70th anniversary is an especially important opportunity to hear their voices. >> they're the only ones who witnessed an atomic attack, and they're dying. we might not have them at the 80th or the 90th. this is one of the most important anniversaries because we have them now. >> reporter: beser developed an interest in the atomic bombings because of his family history. his grandfather, jacob, was the only crew member aboard both planes when they dropped their payloads on hiroshima and nagasaki in august 1945. the bombings killed more than 200,000 people in the two cities within months. beser was only 4 years old when jacob died. he learned later that his grandfather felt no remorse about dropping the bombs, but also believed war and nuclear weapons should be eradicated. beser first visited hiroshima and nagasaki four years ago, hoping to understand his grandfather's views and the human consequences of the atomic bombings. he visited survivors to hear their stories firsthand and to understand japan's perspective on the bombings. >> i came to meet people. i came to listen to their story, and i came to tell american people what they experienced. and because i have a duty to them -- because i have a duty to them and i have a duty to my country to express the other perspective. >> reporter: one of the survivors beser interviewed is this woman. she suffered burns that scarred her face, neck and hands. she later visited the u.s. for reconstructive surgery. she describes the suffering she witnessed after the bombings. >> many people bleeding and looking like red people. their hair was ashes and burned, and skin is burned and clothes. many people are almost naked. some were hiding in their clothes and skin. just like ghosts. >> reporter: he asked her a question that he always asks survivors. >> do you have any anger towards america? >> anger? >> yes. >> why? >> because america dropped the atomic bomb. >> that's a war. i'm angry at war. not anger. i hate the war. i don't like the war. i was so happy young people, they must want to do something. very important people to know, like ari and young people. i'm giving you that. now you run. >> i feel very lucky that i can hear her story and, you know, it's just so important that we never forget someone like her story. >> reporter: beser discovered that his grandfather shared some of the same wishes as the survivors he befriended. although their views of history differ, they share the belief that the tragedies of war and the use of nuclear weapons must never be repeated. chie yamagishi, nhk world, nagasaki. the autumn grand sumo tournament is now under way in tokyo. that means it's time to bring in our sumo expert with details on the 15-day competition. >> expect the unexpected. i think that pretty much tells you how this tournament unfolded. it was 35-time champion yokozuna hakuho found himself in a serious jam. hakuho looked good throughout the fight and went down in a major upset. then the next day rank and file yoshikaze came out with all guns blazing. later hakohu was suffered inflammation in his left knee and was not in shape to fight any more in this tournament. this is his first withdrawal since the 2007 july competition. with two absent at least one man aims to make sure he takes advantage of the situation. he's the ozeki champion who's been racking up victories in pretty convincing fashion. he made his debut last tournament but is already aiming higher. day five, he simply blows sadanoumi away. he keeps his record intact. finally, i want to mention a man we featured last week from russia. amuru. so far he's holding his own fighting at his highest rank. he suffered a severe knee injury three years ago. it kept him from competing for a full year. but with his never say die attitude and rigorous rehabilitation, he made a comeback with a much stronger lower body. the russian is losing confidence and has a good chance of finish ing for the third straight tournament. and that would be impressive. and that's today's sumo summary. we still have ten days to go in this autumn tourney, so anything can happen. join me again next week, and we'll know who is a true contender, and who is a pretender. people in many areas of thailand are dealing with severe flooding after torrential rain. mai shoji joins us with the details. >> let me explain to you, it's basically like a one-two punch. we had that tropical storm vamco that made landfall in vietnam earlier this week. then trekked over towards thailand. that also enhanced the southwestern monsoonal flow which is typical for this time of the year. and that's why it actually created intense floods, especially in a very popular tourist district in thailand. we have images coming out. incredible pictures from pattaya. this area declared a disaster zone after it was hit by floods through the night hours wednesday into thursday. and video shot here in the overnight hours shows cars, objects, people being swept away. other areas of thailand were also hit by floods but reports show pattaya was hardest hit. the city has seen 143 millimeters of rainfall in less than 24 hours. hence this flood. the worst of the floods have receded but more rain is possible in towards the weekend. unfortunately, as i mentioned, that one-two punch is going to happen again. we have that low pressure system trekking towards the west now. it's over waters now but it's still enhancing that monsoonal flow and pumping all that moisture. again, we are looking at another round of flow from the east coming from the south. moisture is really accumulating, concentrated in these locations. a little further north is where we're likely to see 200 to 300 millimeters of careful racial. any additional amounts of rainfall could cause secondary disasters in and around thailand. we'll keep a close eye on this for you. apart from that, we are looking at a typhoon that is heading towards the north. you can kind of see the eye that is moving over the waters right there. this is a very strong typhoon now, krovanh. gusts of 260 kilometers per hour at the center of this system. it's a slow-moving system trekking about 60 kilometers east of where the tsunami was actually detected today. but the waves from this typhoon is about ten meters high. not a day to be in the ocean at all. we are looking at rain that is going to be pulling in about 100 millimete millimeters. the gusts in and around the ogasawara islands could impact structures as well. apart from a direct hit we are looking at moisture pooling into the stationary boundary formed parallel to the east of japan. that's creating thunderstorms. we've got that cold air that is pooling in from the north. so we've got that warm and the clash of cold air happening across tohoku region. bad news is we had about 150 millimeters of rainfall in and around ibarakixnóx >> on this edition of "native report," we attend a veterans memorial dedication in lac courte oreilles, we travel to the red lake nation to meet the schimmel sisters, and we interview actor chaske spencer. we 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 mdewakanton sioux community and the blandin foundation. >> of your life up there in that big city.