And his russian counterpart lasted seven hours. They discussed the four islands known in japan as the northern territories. Russia controls the islands, japan claims them. Sugiyama reiterated japans position that the islands are an inherent part of its territory in terms of law and history. The Russian Ambassador repeated russias stance the islands became russias territory as a result of world war ii. Tokyo and moscow never signed a peace treaty after the war over that issue. The leaders of both countries issued a joint statement in 2013. The tag says theyll try to find a mutually acceptable solution with the aim of signing a peace treaty. Japanese officials want to move discussions forward based on that statement. Nato defense ministers have denounced russias increasing military activity in syria and its support for the government of president bashar al assad. Head of nato, jens stoltenberg, says the alliance will deploy forces if needed to protect turkey from threat. The ministers agree that russias military escalation in syria raises serious concerns. I call on russia to play a constructive role in the fight against isil. But russian actions and the support to the regime are not helpful. Thursdays meeting of 28 nato member nations came a day after russia fired cruise missiles at targets in syria from the caspian sea. The Russian Military is now working with Syrian Government troops on air and ground assaults. It began air strikes last week claiming it was going to target positions of the Islamic State group. The offensive has put turkey on alert. The country has reported russian fighter jets violated turkish air space. Nato has also expressed concern about a possible unintended clash between the u. S. Led coalition and Russian Forces in syria. Prosecutors in germany have searched the head office of volkswagen. The Company Installed emissionsrigging software on millions of its diesel vehicles. Prosecutors say they searched the firms headquarters as well as the residences of Company Officials and other places. They reportedly seized a number of documents and data storage devices. Volkswagen installed Illegal Software in its diesel vehicles to fool emissions testing. Some 11 million vehicles around the globe were reportedly fitted with the software. This was the first search of volkswagen by prosecutors over the allegation. Company officials insist the wrongdoing only involved a small group of engineers. But local media quote sources as saying it was likely organizational. In washington, the head of volkswagens u. S. Unit, michael horn, testified to a house panel. He apologized for the scandal but stressed that the use of Deceptive Software was not a corporate decision. This was not a corporate decision. This was a couple of Software Engineers who put this in for whatever reasons. Lawmakers asked him when executives became aware that the Illegal Software was to blame for harmful emissions far above the u. S. Safety standards. Horn admitted that they heard about emissions irregularities in the string of last year. But he said he only learned in september that software was the cause. Finance ministers and central bankers from the group of 20 advanced and emerging economies have started their meeting in peru. Ramin mellegard joins from us the business desk. What are key issues on the agenda . Some major points and a lot of focus on the details within those points, leaders from the g20 countries are meeting in lima discussing how to prepare for the risks facing the global economy. Now the talks are focussing on the economic slowdown in china, emerging nations, and resource exporting countries. The slowdown in china has seen stock markets plunge around the world. The agenda also includes possible effects of the expecting lifting expected lifting of the u. S. Zero Interest Rate policy. Delegates are also expected to discuss a package of measures drawn up by the organization for Economic Corporation and development to stop multinational firms from avoiding paying taxes. Japans finance minister taro aso and bank of japan governor kuroda are attending. Ahead of the talks aso met with his chinese counterpart. The finance ministers and Central Bank Chiefs from japan, china, and south korea then held trilateral talks reserve after these sessions the three nations released a joint statement including a call for strengthening cooperation in finance, including providing funds in financial crises. The statement also suggests promoting Structural Reforms to boost economic growth. The u. S. Central bank has released the minutes of the federal open Market Committee meeting on september 16th and 17th. Now the minutes show policymakers held off on a rate hike last month out of what they call prudence. Federal reserve minutes show most members thought conditions for tightening are being met but they were concerned about the effects of chinas slowdown on the global economy. Market expectations what risen before the meeting. It was thought the fed would start raising the key Interest Rates after keeping it near zero for nearly seven years. The minutes say many participants agreed labor Market Conditions have improved considerably but concerns over the impact of chinas slowdown on u. S. Exports and prices apparently weighed on them. The minutes show most members agreed that it would be prudent to wait for further Economic Indicators before starting to raise the rates. Many participants see the impact as temporary. They maintain the view that conditions are improving sufficiently to begin affirming this year. Some market sources note also, however that worse than expected job figure release earlier this month have made the prospects somewhat uncertain. Lets check the markets. In the u. S. Stock prices rose after the fed minutes for september came out. The dow closed above the key 17,000 level for the First Time Since august 19th. The techheavy nasdaq rose 0. 4 . Investors seemed to take comfort from the feds decision to hold off raising the key Interest Rates. For more on the opening levels this friday here in japan we go to our mayu standing by at the tokyo stock exchange, what can you tell us . Good morning. Turning risk on after the feds minutes, selling government bonds, buying of stocks. Lets see if that risk on sentiment is spreading in tokyo on this friday. Its october 9th. Nikkei and topix are both up over 1 . Indices are back after snapping, sentiment lifting here too. The feds minutes provided more clarity on what policymakers in the u. S. Were thinking. One dealer said the feds minutes showed that the feds decision not to raise rates at the latest meeting showed people were more collaborative than people thought it would be. Looks like the feds officials spent a lot of time talking about asia and about china and its economic showdown. And speaking of china Chinese Markets reopened yesterday after a weeklong holiday. The shanghai composite rose nearly 3 . And we also saw a jump in oil prices with bench crude oil closing above 50 a barrel. Impressive because oil prices have been fluctuating around 47, 48 for a while. So with the positive reopen in china and a rally in oil prices, i guess were seeing investors buying more risky assets than before. Mayu, emerging currencies were hammered the past few months on uncertainties over the feds policy, challenges the chinese economy. But what are we seeing in some of the currency levels this morning . Ramin, now that we know more what the feds officials are thinking, fed policymakers are thinking, emerging markets are recouping their massive losses this week. Ramin, one of the main winners is the indonesian rupiah which had plunged on a 17year low. With so much uncertainty dealers had pulled their money out of currencies including indonesia, but now emerging currencies are rising up on bets that a u. S. Retake wont happen any time soon. Today the rupiah is a little bit lower. But the line is the stronger rupiah. A snapshot of three major currencies with higher rates pushing down the rates, traders are selling the dollar, a oneweek low overnight, still trading around 119. 90. Markets in south korea and taiwan are closed today. Ill be back with an update in a few hours. Back to you. Looking forward to that, mayu yoshida live from the tokyo stock exchange. Karaoke day was born in japan and spread across the planet with passion. But at home customers are drifting away. The karaoke industry is pulling out all the stops to bring them back. Reporter yeah bans karaoke boxes are private booths where anyone can be a rock star. Many businesses are adding attractions. This booth comes with drums and other musical instruments. Or how about turning your singing performance into a promotional video . In this age of selfmade youtube celebrities, wouldbe pop idols can now customize their karaoke performances with video from their smartphone for the extra wow factor. This karaoke enthusiast is alone. Hes anymoring himself with cameras installed in the booth. He uses his smartphone to send the video to an online sharing site provided by the karaoke chain. About 10,000 of these videos are uploaded each day. The service even allows users to combine clips with other performers and create an instant band. Translator i can connect with a variety of people. Its the best entertainment ever. Translator rather than just providing places to sing, we want to offer the chance to talk about songs and Share Interests with others. We hope ultimately that more people will want to try karaoke boxes. Reporter here in tokyo, a karaoke chain is targeting foreign tourists. In march, the chain created a free both with the help of the local tourist office. There are helpful instructions on how to use a karaoke machine. And visitors can enjoy singing japanese songs with the staff. Karaoke is better in japan. Its good. Reporter karaoke chains are providing other new services for foreign customers. Tablet devices allow them to search for their favorite japanese songs. The song titles and artist names are searchable in the roman alphabet. And when people sing, lyrics are shown phonetically above the japanese. Translator there is a big market among foreign customers who want to sing anime and other japanese songs. Thinking ahead, we want to add Voice Recognition systems so that they can choose songs by just speaking to the devices. Reporter with Entertainment Options growing ever more diverse, karaoke is trying hard to compete. The industry is fighting back with a string of bells and whistles. I know what ill be doing later. Thats it for business news. Catherine, i hand it back to you. Thanks, ramin. I expect you to play the drums. All right, a writer from belarus has won this years nobel prize in literature. Svetlana alexievich is an author who wrote about the difficulties people had living under the former communist regime in the soviet union. The nobel prize in literature for 2015 is awarded to the belarusian writer Svetlana Alexievich for her writings a monument to suffering and courage in our time. Alexievich was born in ukraine and later moved with her family to belarus. While recording as a reporter for a newspaper, she wrote her first book, the unwomanly face of the war, but it was soon banned by the government. Her bestknown work is the chernobyl prayer depicting the sufferings of people following the Nuclear Disaster in her homeland. Fans of japanese writer Haruki Murakami gathered in a bookstore in tokyo to watch the announcement. Many were disappointed to not hear his name called again. Nhk worlds yuji spoke to some of murakamis supporters. Translator im disappointed, but his work is always state of the art. I really hopes he keeps writing. Translator i read most of his books so i was looking forward to hearing good news, but there are different opinions. Ill continue to hope that he wins one day. Its a shame, yes. I know he really would really earn it. Its a shame. I guess its sad, but im sure he will get it at some point. Hes still going to be around for a while, so he will get it sometime. Im sure about that, but its sad. Fans of murakami have been waiting for years for their favorite author to be named as a nobel winner. But theyll have to wait for at least one more year. Yuji osawa, nhk world, tokyo. Welfare officials in japan are raising alarm over a sharp rise in child abuse cases. Results of cases from fiscal 2014 show a rise for the first time. One recent case making its way through the courts involves the death of a 5yearold boy. Police found his body last year inside an apartment south of tokyo. Officials allege the boy was confined and starved by his father. The man is currently on trial for murder. Prosecutors say the boy was practically skin and bones for at least a month before his death. The Welfare Ministry looked at the number of abuse cases recorded by Child Consultation Centers across the country. They say the total reached close to 89,000 last fiscal year. By prefecture the number of cases was the highest in osaka in western japan. Kanagawa south of tokyo followed. Tokyo had the thirdhighest number. Ministry officials attribute the rise to a widened scope of circumstances that can be reported as abuse. They say police are reporting more cases of psychological abuse. Experts say nearly onethird of mothers of children who die from abuse had no prenatal counseling and more than 40 of victim households had limited contact with others in their communities. Translator there are various factors behind abuse such as unwanted pregnancies and social isolation. With unwanted pregnancies, help must be offered from the time a woman becomes pregnant. Abuse is difficult to respond to, and more emphasis must be placed on prevention. Government Officials SayPublic Awareness about child abuse has been increasing. Staff members from Child Consultation Centers and Police Officers are conducting drills that simulate taking children into protective custody. Leaders in tokyo say theyre taking the matter seriously and will do Everything Possible to deal with the problem. Serious cyclists in japan have traditionally cast a nononsense image. Most ultra fit, lycraloving men. Now a very different breed of road warrior is breaking down that stereotype. Reporter more than 1,000 people have gathered east of tokyo for an unusual sporting event. Mock competitors attempt to spend their time indoors watching anime cartoons and reading manga comics. People here are decked out in all kinds of outfits. But take a look. You see many of them have something in common. The main characters are members of a High School Cycling club. The hero is a selfidentifying otaku who loves anime, but he goes on to defy all odds to win a national championship. Fans of the original manna have snapped up more than 14 million copies. Translator i really love to see the characters working so hard to achieve their goals. Translator i didnt get the most out of my own High School Years so its really fun for me to read about their experiences. Reporter miyazaki is one of the people who took up road cycling after getting into the manga. Translator i read the comics through the night. Theyre very moving. I cant stop crying. I used over a box of tissues. Reporter miyazaki used to spend most of her time reading comics and dressing up as her favorite characters, a hobby known as cosplay. But that changed last year when she bought a road bike of the same brand as in the comics. Now most weekdays after finishing work, she spends two hours in the saddle. On weekends, she gets together with friends and slogs it out over 100 kilometers or more. Translator i go wherever i can by bicycle. My priority now is riding somewhere to enjoy a really good meal. Reporter my ya Miyazaki Join amateur cycling club which includes a people from a range of backgrounds and age groups. One weekend morning, the cyclists plan a longhaul ride to the seafood festival in a coastal town. Miyazaki is one of the newest members. But the other cyclists say she already holds her own. Translator shes amazing. Shes always breaking away. Its only at the end that im able to catch her. She has a heart of steel. Reporter the cyclists have climbed hills and powered through city streets and finally made it to the beach. Translator ive changed a lot as a person. My relationships with people, my whole world has expanded. Im just so glad i discovered cycling. Reporter miyazaki says her next goal is the grand tour, the three top european professional races. Her enthusiasm as a bicycleloving otaku is accelerating day by day. Its time for a check of the weather. People in northern japan are dealing with Severe Weather conditions. Meteorologist robert speta joins us with the latest. Yes, lets talk about this storm system. It is no longer by any means a tropical system. Its out here just north of hokkaido extending toward far eastern russia. What we are seeing right now is a pretty fierce storm. Take a look at this, you have Winds Continuing to wrap around here. And actually some areas of northern hokkaido reporting winds upwards of 130, 140 kilometers per hour, winds 80 to 85 kilometers per hour. This is still a potent storm system. Lets go to video coming out of northern hokkaido where you can just see that blinding rains, waves continuing to crash onshore, some areas over 200 millimeters of rain has been reported. Jma is advising people to stay away from water, as many rivers are exceeding dangerous levels. You can see it. One of the