Through some difficult times of their own. Japans coast guard Officials Say a crackdown on suspected chinese coral poachers appears to be working. For two months, theyve been monitoring and warning crews off islands south of tokyo. Now they say the boats have all gone. Nhk worlds Keiko Yamamoto reports. Reporter coast guard officials stepped up night time patrols over the ogasawara islands, 1,000 kilometers south of tokyo. They were keeping track of chinese crews taking advantage of the darkness to enter japanese waters. The officials first noticed the boats in the middle of september. Then they saw a dramatic increase late last month of more than 200. Translator poachers clear out the coral completely leaving nothing behind. I dont know when well be able to harvest coral like we used to. Reporter the chinese crews are believed to be targeting coral varieties known as precious coral. Jewelry made from it fetches high prices in china. Fishermen there cannot harvest it because it is a protected species, so they come to japan. The japanese government tackled the issue. Translator we hope that cooperation between regulatory authorities in china, and japan, will properly resolve this issue. Reporter japanese lawmakers took matters into their own hands. They increased fines for vessels entering illegally into territorial waters and the excluded Economic Zone by more than seven times. And coast guard officials stepped up their vigilance, especially at night. Theyve arrested nine captains since last month for illegal operations or ignoring orders to stop. They reported seeing 40 chinese boats last week. Then fewer each day. They say they will keep a close watch for illegal activities. Keiko yamamoto, nhk world. Japanese officials are speeding up the delivery of aid to help combat the Ebola Outbreak in west africa. The air selfdefense force will transport 20,000 sets of protective clothing to the region next week. Defense minister akinori eto issued the order at a meeting of senior officials from the ministry and the selfdefense forces. Translator the transportation of the protective gear by asdf aircraft is very significant as part of the governments effort to deal with the outbreak quickly. The asdf unit will leave for ghani on december 6th. Staff from u. N. Agencies would deliver the aid from ghana to affected areas. Japanese government officials plan to provide up to 720,000 sets of protective clothing. Theyve already sent 20,000 sets to liberia and sierra leone on board commercial aircraft. This is the first time sdf personnel will be sent to west africa on a mission to support the fight against ebola. Government leaders in germany have a new tool to help people infected with the disease. Theyve unveiled the worlds first aircraft dedicated to transferring ebola patients. The plane arrived on thursday at an airport in berlin. A passenger jet was refitted by German Airline lufthansa, and a research institute. Most of the seats, as well as the kitchen and cargo comb compartments have been removed. The aircraft is now equipped with a medical facility that would allow ebola patients to receive highly specialized treatment while being transferred. A double layer tent where air pressure is kept low to prevent the virus from escaping has also been installed. Translator the risk of the ebola virus spreading from west africa to neighboring countries still remains possible. We must realize that even now, the International Community is struggling to find a way to offer support. He says more support is needed to help bring the situation under control. Officials with the World Health Organization say more than 15,000 cases have been reported. A dispute within the Japanese Basketball Association has cast a shadow over the mens and Womens National teams. Earlier this week the body overseeing the sport, the International Basketball federation, suspended the association. Now japans players face being barred from next years asian qualifiers before the 2016 rio olympics. Officials with fiba announced the suspension after the japan Basketball Association failed to merge its two domestic mens leagues by the end of october. Fiba secretarygeneral patrick boweman expressed regret but he said its Time Association officials implement changes. The head of the Sports MinistryHakubun Shimomura said he hopes to resolve the problem soon. Translator i regret the move. Its cruel for the players. Theyre practicing hard to take part in the olympics and other international events. He says baumann plans to visit japan soon to ask ministry ask the ministry to deal with the problem. Prodemocracy protesters in hong kong continue to occupy the treats. But theyre seeing declining numbers as the protests pass the twomonth mark. Translator my family got angry would me. I would like to end the occupation and go home. But i cannot leave before we get results. Translator in my opinion its okay to stop occupying the streets if other plans to protest the government are better. Protesters began camping out on main roads in three parts of the city in september. Theyre demanding a fully democratic election for hong kongs chief executive. The territorys government has shown no signs of giving in to their demands. At one point last month it looked like there might be a breakthrough. Leaders met with Hong Kong Government officials for the first time but the two sides failed to end the deadlock. Earlier this week authorities acting on a court order removed barricades from one of the three main protest sites. Nearly 150 protesters were arrested in scuffles. Chief executive has called the occupation illegal. Chinas government says the matter should be settled according to the law. Student leaders have so far failed to propose an alternative to the sitins. They say theyre preparing to outline their future course of action. Theyve called for a mass rally on sunday. The new land of opportunity for japanese manufacturers is india. And ron madison is here to explain. Ron . You know for years many countries have had their sights set on india which has been enjoying pretty steady growth, gene. It now has, for the first time, topped a list of most promising overseas locations for japanese manufacturers. And thats according to a longrunning survey by the japan bank for international cooperation. The governmentbacked bank has carried out the survey every year since 1992. This year, 617 Japanese Companies responded. India was voted the most attractive overseas location. Over the next three years, moving up from second place. Many Companies Cited its chief labor costs, competent workers, and market potential. An official with the bank says hopes are high that indias business infrastructure will improve under its new government. Indonesia dropped one notch from the top post last year. China moved up a notch to take third. While thailand slipped to fourth place. In total, six Asian Countries made it into the top ten. 9 inflation rate in the eurozone slowed in november. The Consumer Price index has remained below 1 for 14 months in a row. Officials at euro stat, thats the data office of the european union, said on friday that the preliminary figure for the cpi in November Rose 0. 3 from a year ago and thats down from 0. 4 in october. The European Central bank has lowered its policy rate twice since june. It has also taken monetary easing measures that include buying up financial assets. Market players are closely watching for hints of additional monetary easing measures from the central bank. Board members at the ecb will meet in frankfurt next week to discuss Monetary Policy for the eurozone. Well the latest cpi data has increased concerns among Market Players about the future of the eurozone economy. A slump in oil prices is also casting a bit of a shadow on investor sentiment. Thats been pushing down stocks on major benchmarks in the region as you can see all of the markets now in negative territory, with london losing about 0. 7 . Frankfurt is down about 0. 4 . Paris cac 40 losing 0. 5 . Falling crude oil prices weighed on Energy Related stocks. Resource heavy australia share market down more than 1. 6 . It hit a oneweek low. Cheaper crude oil prices have helped reverse rising fuel costs in resource junkry japan. It closed in the highest level in about two weeks. The euro is moving in a narrow range against the dollar. Right now euro dollar is at roughly 1. 2450. Investors are keeping a close eye on that ecb meeting next week as well as what president mario draghi will have to say. Dollar yen is currently at 118. 20. Earlier in the day the greenback touched about 118. 30. But its been losing some of that upward momentum on the low trading volume. Japanese officials have told auto parts maker takata and other companies to expand a recall of faulty air bags in japan if they agree to a similar recall in the u. S. Officials at the u. S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration earlier ordered takata and five automakers to issue a nationwide u. S. Recall by next tuesday. Japans transport minister akihiro ohta says ack tata and japanese automakers have been told to report immediately to the ministry if they obey that order. Japanese companies have already told the transport ministry they will recall 2. 6 million domestic cars with air bags made overseas between 2000 and 2003. Ministry Officials Say some 200,000 vehicles are expected to be added to the recall. Safety regulators say the air bags can spray metal fragments that could enter passengers when they bags deploy. October Housing Starts in japan fell for the eighth month in a row. Officials blamed slumping demand following a rush before the april consumption tax hike. The Land Ministry says nearly 80 units were started across the country last month. Thats down more than 12 from a year earlier. Built to order houses were down 28. 6 . And rental units fell about 4 . But it wasnt all bad news. The number of built for sale homes was up 1. 6 . That was the first rise there in nine months. And thats largely thanks to an increase in starts for kond mind yums in the tokyo metro area. Ministry Officials SayHousing Starts are likely to stay below last years level for some time. Well, theme park dedicated to hello kitty is set to open in china in january. Its the first park of its kind outside of japan dedicated to the popular japanese character. Senior local officials were among those who were there to mark the completion of the park. A chinese firm built the facility after signing a licensing contract with the creator of hello kitty. San rio started operating a decade ago in china. The country had been plagued with counterfeit character goods. The company now has about 150 shops in china, and its seeing growing sales. Translator i hope this will become a first step to open more facilities in china. U. S. Entertainment giant disney also plans to open a theme park in shanghai next year. The competition is expected to encontinues fie in chinas leisure industry as Foreign Companies target the growing middle class. Okay that is going to wrap it up for biz this week. Lets look at the markets. Okay p for biz this week. Lets look at the markets. Tuna has long been one of the most popular fish to eat in japan. Whether served as sushi or sashimi people just cant seem to get enough of it. But the fishs future on menus is in question. Experts at the swissbased International Union for conservation of nature say the pacific bluefin tuna is at a high risk of extinction and theyve placed it on their red list. Nhk worlds kurando tago has more. Reporter japanese diners are never at a loss for words when it comes to explaining what they think of tuna. Translator yummy. Translator the taste of bluefin tuna is unexplainable. I love it. Reporter but they arent the only ones who enjoy a tuna dinner. Officials say the fish is also in demand in countries flout asia and around the world. This love affair has placed incredible pressure on the species. With fewer large tuna remaining, fishermen are now catching younger fish which has reduced the species chance of reproduction. Recently, officials from about 20 countries in the region, including japan, met in the u. S. State of california to discuss measures to help preserve the remaining stock. They decided to cut the annual catch quota of bluefin tuna by 40 to 3300 tons in the eastern pacific starting in 2015. They also agreed to try to keep the catch of young fish to less than half of the quota. But theres still hope for the fish. And for the people who enjoy eating it. Tuna farming. Japanese Trading House has joined forces with a university in the tuna farming business. The first farmraised bluefin tuna will appear on the market next month. The Company Plans to triple the combined effort by 2020 to 240 ton. Translator the campaign to protect wild bluefin tuna is certain to gain momentum. That obviously means demand for sustainably cultivated tuna will grow. Reporter efforts to preserve the fish dont stop there. For the first time, a joint Research Group from japan and panama is growing yellowfin tuna from eggs. Yellowfin tuna is wildly used in canning and as sashimi around the world. The researchers this week showed off young yellowfin raised at a facility in a panamanian village. Translator a yoing number of people in panama are coming to understand and appreciate the significance and future of the project. I look forward to its success. Reporter the eventual goal is to farm yellowfin tuna from eggs on a commercial basis, as well as bluefin tuna. The researchers are hoping that their technological help will lead to the cultivation of tuna, and the preservation of an important and wellloved food. Kurando tago, nhk world. Japanese actor ken takakura spent this career portraying tough men facing difficult situations. He died earlier this month. Now people in china are remembering a man whose characters reflected their own hardships during decades of upheaval. Nhk worlds age ji hamanishi has more. Reporter when ken takakura died at the age of 383, he had been appearing on chinese screens since the late 1970s. Ever since his debut his performances were a steady favorite with mans. Takakuras first film to be shown in china was adopted by a Production Company in shanghai. The companys building now houses a movie museum. At one Attraction Visitors can try dubbing parts of a takakura film. Translator we recently heard about his death. So we came here today. Translator im 80 and my wife is 78. I remember we were working hard back then and takakuras movie impressed us greatly. Reporter after his death, staterun tv aired the 25minute takakura special, a famous news cast caster creates the actor. The death was even mentioned at the governments regular press conference. Its rare for a reporters briefing 20 cover anyone other than a politician or other figure of power. Translator takakura made an important contribution in promoting cultural ties between the two nations. We offer our condolences. Reporter from the mid 60s to the late 70s, millions of chinese were brutally oppressed under the socalled cultural revolution. There was almost no cinema, apart from propaganda. A takakura film was one of the first westernmade movies people could see after the revolution. The film is about a prosecutor who is falsely accused. Eventually he triumphs, and punishes the crooked mastermind. Many chinese identified so strongly with takakura. Translator everybody turned his color up like takakura. No matter if he was even wearing a coat. Always. Takakuras art influenced us. Theres no border for us. Reporter the chair of the Shanghai FilmOrganization Says takakura showed another side of japan. Translator the first films after the cultural revolution opened a new window for us. The outside world was more wonderful than we imagined. Takakura was one of the most precious visions of what was outside that window. Reporter takakuras legacy reached beyond borders, and starts memories of the many cultural and social changes china has been through. Eiji hamanishi, nhk world, shanghai. Many fans have said a final farewell to takakura in nagasaki where his last movie was shot. The ceremony was held at a port in hirado city where the crew shot the movie three years ago. More than 1,000 movie fans from across the country attended. Translator ken takakuras warmth, kindness, and strength, will stay here in hirado forever. It started raining when a fishing boat used in the movie was about to set off to scatter flowers offered by mourners. People described the rain as tears of sadness. Translator he was a great actor, who had a sense of moral obligation, humanity, politeness and consideration. I said thank you to him. Translator i hope that he may rest in peace. In a Ferry Terminal nearby fans remember takakura by looking at props and costumes used in the film. A late season Tropical Storm is heading for vietnam. Our meteorologist jonathan oh is here with the latest. Jonathan . Hello, gene, yes, we are keeping an eye on this Tropical Storm as it continues to move to the west. It is bringing lots of rain fall to the philippines. Notice its not still really organized. A large cluster of clouds but there is enough of a circulation to where it is a Tropical Storm. Moving to the west at 20 kilometers per hour. Heading for the indochina peninsula with winds of 72 and gusting up to 108. I think as it goes over the waters, its going to try to intensify just a little but i dont think its going to get out of the Tropical Storm category and once it lands saturday night over vietnam its going to actually weaken quite a bit. But lots of rainfall over the indochina peninsula as we go into the next 72 hours. Over the water not expected to bring a lot of rainfall just over the waters. But as it starts to approach land thats when were expecting the rainfall to pick up and some areas may see up to 150 millimeters of rain during the next three days. Meanwhile we are talking about rain into the korean peninsula. A rain system now heading toward japan. Lots of cloud cover, some rain also expected as we go throughout the next day into saturday, for japan, ahead of it some warmer temperatures. Highs topping off at around 20 degrees in tokyo with a lot of cloud cover and some showers possible. Back towards the west, and shanghai and also chongqing were also expecting some rainfall as we go into saturday. Now, a lot of rainfall talking about the region toward the western side of europe. You can see a lot of cloud cover moving onto the iberian peninsula, and also into the northwestern corner of africa. We are talking about this rainfall, also into casablanca during the past several days. More rainfall expected with this system. And some areas may also see some very strong winds, and gusty conditions. So looking out for the possibility of some severe weather, maybe even seeing an isolated tornado, and also some hail. We have another disturbance over the Mediterranean Sea so the coastline for france, spain, and also into italy will be getting some stronger weather from time to time. Notice the wet weather extending from lisbon and portugal all the way in to greece, athens with a high of 15 degrees in athens. Drier toward the northern side of the continent. Now lets take a look at the forecast for north america, where during the past couple of days the weather has been somewhat difficult for travelers, especially for the northeastern side of the united states. We are seeing a little bit of a change now. High pressure is taking over the eastern side of the united states. Thats dragging in very cold air. So for morning shoppers for black friday its really chilly. Definitely wanting to bundle up. Heading out to the stores. We are expectings dry conditions to continue as the high shifts toward the east. Meanwhile back toward the west in the Northern Rockies we have a lot of wet weather and Stormy Weather into southern portions of canada, as this system continues to shift towards the east. I think, though, as we go through friday and into the weekend, we will see the influence of snow slowly pushing towards the east. So chicago, winnipeg, you will see snowfall as we go throughout friday. Warmer down toward the south, into Oklahoma City and also into denver. But look at this, chilly temperatures for the eastern side of the united states. D. C. At 4, and atlanta at 9 degrees. L. A. , you will see an increase in cloud cover as we go through the black friday weekend, as a low pressure system comes toward you by sunday dry over tallahassee and florida seeing some wet weather in chicago as you go through the weekend. Hope you have a good day wherever you are. Heres your extended outlook. Thats newsline for this hour. Im gene otani in tokyo. Gg99nnc