and Tokyo Zoo reports lion deaths.
熊本地震の影響が続き、台風ドルフィンが荒天をもたらし、
東京の動物園ではライオンが死亡。
Communities and foreign residents face ongoing challenges across Japan.
日本各地で住民や外国人が厳しい状況に直面している。
It's a Tuesday evening here in Japan. I'm James Tengan Tokyo. Welcome to NHK Newsline.
Kumamoto Quake: Thousands In Shelters One Week After Quake
It's been one week since a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Kumamoto Prefecture in southwestern Japan. Authorities say 38 people have died across the prefecture.
Thousands remain in evacuation centers.
And the Japanese Meteorological Agency says people should remain on alert for potential further strong quakes in the region for at least another week.
The area has been hit by scorching temperatures of over 35 degrees.
Heatstroke is now a growing concern.
The authorities say about 45,000 households and businesses remain without running water. Yatsushiro City set up a water distribution point on Tuesday.
This woman has taken a couple of leaders home. She's boiling some to make tea.
00:01:15 話者 12
It tastes good. Water is really important.
00:01:21 話者 1
About 700 homes were completely destroyed in the quake with thousands more damaged.
About 8,300 people are staying in evacuation facilities, and many more are sheltering in their cars.
Kumamoto Quake: Funeral Services Being Held For Victims
People are now gathering for funeral services for their loved ones.
A wake was held on Sunday for 16-year-old high school student Hirayama Eru.
She lived in Hikawa town, where the tremor registered the maximum level of 7 on the Japanese intensity scale.
Eru was found in her room at home after the earthquake and was confirmed dead at a hospital.
She's believed to have fallen during the jolt and suffered a cervical spine injury.
00:02:12 話者 21/Hirayama Katsuhisa/Eru's father
I still can't believe it.
She focused on art in high school, and always said she wanted to get a job in that field.
She was just taking the first steps toward her dream and was working hard.
Kumamoto Quake
2 Mall Workers Killed In Explosion Were Ordered To Return
00:02:34 話者 1
A funeral service was also held on Monday for 22-year-old Otake Kurumi.
She was working at a store at the Ion Mall Kumamoto when the quake struck.
An explosion that followed ripped through the shopping center, killing seven people.
The operator of the variety store chain, Habita, confirmed Otake was one of two employees who died in the massive explosion.
The workers have been told to return to the building to put cash into a safe in the store's back room after they had already evacuated following the earthquake.
00:03:10 話者 22/Yuse Koji/Sales manager, Habita
I believe the order was inappropriate. I deeply regret it.
00:03:19 話者 1
The company says it apologized to the bereaved family members on Sunday.
Habita says the instruction came from the sales manager about 15 minutes after the quake.
The company says the two employees were told to get permission from Ion before reentering the mall. but it does not know whether they actually obtained it.
Habita says it's considering how to deal with the issue, including an investigation.
Kumamoto Quake: Foreign Residents Caught In The Aftermath
The disaster also upended the lives of foreign residents.
Kumamoto is home to many temporary workers who came to Japan as technical trainees.
One of them lost his life in the quake.
Tran Van Son moved to Japan in January.
He worked at a company that operates heavy machinery to support his wife and seven-month-old son back in Vietnam.
He was killed when a steel beam fell from the ceiling. He was 24 years old.
A memorial mass was held for him in Kumamoto City on Saturday.
00:04:23 話者 31/
It's awful that he won't be able to see his son grow up.
Meanwhile, many lives were also saved that day.
Shortly after the earthquake struck, residents in Yatsushiro City rushed to help an elderly woman trapped inside her home. Among the rescuers were Vietnamese residents.
Le Huy Tuan was one of those who came to help.
He lives nearby and knows the woman personally.
He says she always had a kind word for him.
00:05:08 話者 32/Le Huy Tuan
She always greets me like, Hello, how are you today?
Everyone was so scared during the quake, but I'm happy we were able to rescue her.
00:05:22 話者 1
They called emergency services but couldn't get through, so they drove her to a hospital.
00:05:29 話者 33/Nishida Kazunori/Local resident
I was so relieved when she was admitted and was going to be okay.
I don't know what we would have done if the Vietnamese residents weren't here.
00:05:38 話者 1
As tremors continue to rock the region, local groups are also trying to help those who may struggle with Japanese.
The Kumamoto International Foundation is one of them.
It supports foreign nationals in the prefecture from its center in Kumamoto City.
It says many have reached out for help since the quake.
00:06:01 話者 34/Katsuya Tomomi/Secretary General, Kumamoto International Foundation
Immediately after the quake, we heard from foreign residents who were anxious and afraid. They were asking what happened and said they didn't know what to do.
As the days go by, their concerns are mounting, wondering what to do if their house was completely destroyed or dealing with the lack of water or electricity.
00:06:24 話者 1
Katsuya says foreign residents face unique challenges.
Even if they can speak Japanese, many struggle to read it and rely on cell phones to make up the gap. It makes Wi-Fi essential to keeping them informed.
In the meantime, she's encouraging them to reach out to their neighbors.
00:06:46 話者 34
Japanese residents can help them get in touch with services like ours or similar programs with the prefecture.
Connecting with us in any way can pave the way for further support, so I encourage them to reach out to those around them.
00:07:04 話者 1
The center offers consultations in 24 languages and is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Kumamoto residents are encouraged to get in touch for anything they may need.
Typhoon Dolphin Reaches Japan's Ogasawara Islands
Powerful typhoon Dolphin is bringing heavy rain and high winds to parts of Tokyo's Ogasawara Islands as it heads westward across the Pacific Ocean.
The Japan Meteorological Agency has categorized Dolphin as large and very strong.
Officials are urging people on the islands to be alert to the risk of high waves and wind gusts and refrain from unnecessary outings.
A gust of 122 kilometers per hour was recorded on Chijima Island on Tuesday afternoon.
Weather officials say the seas will stay rough around the Ogasawara Islands until Wednesday.
Waves of 11 meters are expected later on Tuesday and 9 meters on Wednesday.
They say winds on Tuesday could be powerful enough to blow objects around or overturn a truck. Sustained winds are forecast of up to 108 km/h with gusts of 162 km.
Up to 120 mm of rain accompanied by thunder are expected through noon on Wednesday, potentially triggering heavy rain warnings.
As Dolphin heads west, the Okinawa and Amami regions lie in its projected path.
Extremely rough seas are forecast for Okinawa from Wednesday and Amami by Thursday.
People are advised to keep updated with the latest information and be prepared.
3 Lions At Tokyo Zoo Die Amid Extreme Heat
Japan's recent spate of extremely high temperatures has impacted not only humans but animals as well. A zoo here in Tokyo lost three of its female lions.
Veterinarians suspect they had succumbed to heat stroke.
In mid-July, 10 out of 16 lions at Tama Zoological Park fell ill.
Some couldn't stand up, others lost their appetite.
Zoo staff tried to treat the animals by cooling their bodies and administering medication, but a three-year-old female died on July 28.
She was followed by an 11-year-old on July 31 and a 15-year-old on August 2.
The zoo says the exact cause of death will not be known until lab results come in.
However, initial autopsies show all three lions suffered from dehydration and multiple organ failure.
00:09:45 話者 41/Nakamura Masato/Tama Zoological Park
From mid-July the temperature has risen so rapidly and this might have been an influence. We take the deaths seriously.
00:09:57 話者 1
Meanwhile, three other lions are still being treated.
The lion exhibit is now closed and the zoo has yet to decide when it will reopen.
N.Korea Condemns Joint Alert About Tech Workers
North Korea has condemned a joint alert issued by 11 countries calling for reinforced monitoring of Pyongyang's information technology workers.
Government entities from countries including Japan and the US released the alert about North Korean IT workers last Friday.
They warned countries and global companies that the workers have been impersonating other nationals to obtain jobs and income, and to steal sensitive information from foreign businesses.
The joint alert points out the workers' earnings help fund the North's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.
North Korea's foreign ministry spokesperson released comments about the alert through the state-run Korean Central News Agency on Tuesday.
The spokesperson dismissed the joint warning as nothing but a stereotyped political accusation with a sinister purpose to tarnish the image of the nation.
The spokesperson also said North Korea will never allow any politically and ideologically motivated attempt of the US and other hostile forces to use the cyber issue as the means of criticism and pressure on other countries.
2050 'Weather Video' Warns Of Worsening Global Warming
A Japanese organization working on measures against climate change has released a video that features fictional weather forecasts for the year 2050.
The organization created it in cooperation with the United Nations Information Center, the University of Tokyo and the National Institute for Environmental Studies.
Experts projected what Japan's weather could be like on August 8, 2050, if the pace of carbon dioxide emissions remains unchanged.
A weather forecaster in the video says temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius or higher have been recorded at more than 150 locations across the country.
The forecaster says people are strongly urged to refrain from going out in the daytime.
She warns that an increase in the number of people suffering from heat stroke is overwhelming paramedics.
As a result, it may take more than an hour for ambulances to arrive in Tokyo.
The forecaster also says a powerful typhoon with a maximum wind speed of 216 kilometers per hour could approach Japan.
An expert who supervised the video stresses that global warming must be stopped.
00:12:35 話者 52/Emori Seita/Professor, Institute for Future Initiatives, The University of Tokyo
We need to accelerate the transformation of society into one that's independent of fossil fuels.
00:12:45 話者 1
The video is an updated version of one created in 2014 by the United Nations Climate Agency, the World Meteorological Organization, and others.
It was titled WMO Weather Report 2050.
Business
Now for the latest on the financial and business fronts with Ramin Mellegard.
00:13:07 話者 5/Ramin Mellegard
Thank you very much indeed.
Japan's Food Exports Hit Record High For Jan.-Jun.
Now, Japan's exports of food, forestry and fishery products hit a record high for the second straight year in the first half of 2026.
The shipments totaled almost 900 billion yen, or about $5.7 billion.
The agriculture ministry says the exports rose almost 11% in value on year, reflecting a global jump in demand for Japanese food products such as matcha.
Exports of green tea surged more than 83 percent to 48 billion yen.
Shipments of yellowtail fish climbed almost 70 percent due to demand in North America and South Korea.
Exports to the United States, Japan's biggest market, rose about 15 percent to 163 billion yen.
Figures for China gained 4.3 percent even though some products faced import restrictions.
However, even with the recent jump in shipments, it seems difficult for the government to achieve an annual export target of 5 trillion yen by 2030.
Japan's 3 Major Financial Groups Post Record Net Profits
Japan's three major financial groups have posted record net profits for the three months to June, partly thanks to an increase in interest rates.
Mitsubishi UFJ booked net income of more than 800 billion yen, or $5 billion.
That's a jump of about 48 percent in yen terms from the same period last year.
Sumitomo Mitsui logged a 33 percent profit increase at 500 billion yen and Mizuho posted a 45 percent surge to 420 billion yen.
Now, the quarterly figures were records for Sumitomo Mitsui and Mizuho for the third straight year.
Besides the increased interest income, the strong results were helped by commission revenue from mergers and acquisition services.
Mizuho also raised his net profit forecast for fiscal 2026 by 100 billion yen to 1.4 trillion yen, following the Bank of Japan's rate hike in June.
Balancing AI Efficiency With Human Expertise
Now, the use of generative AI is spreading rapidly, but integrating the technology amid a shortage of skilled workers is just one challenge.
NHK World's Tanii Kengo looks at how businesses are putting AI to work.
00:15:39 話者 6/Tanii Kengo
This coating company paints large construction machinery and control devices for nuclear power plants.
Five years ago, it began developing AI-powered equipment to help production.
One example is this machine.
00:16:01 話者 61
The screen shows a component.
00:16:04 話者 6
A camera captures images of parts, and AI instantly identifies each one from among 56 different types.
Drawing on over 50 years of human experience, the system automatically applies the optimal coating to each part.
The task previously required three workers, but now can be done by just one.
Daily output has risen by 30%.
The company is also developing an AI-powered inspection system.
It can detect flowers as small as 0.2 millimeters, too small for the human eye to spot.
Securing stuff is expected to become more difficult in the future, so the company plans to step up its AI program.
00:17:09 話者 62/Odakura Hisami/President, Hibara
The key is striking the right balance between what AI can do and how people can develop their expertise. We concluded that we should make greater use of AI's capabilities.
00:17:23 話者 6
Amid the uptake of AI, this major electronics firm says passing on human knowledge is also important.
Suwa Utaka joined the company in 2024.
She is developing railway operational and maintenance systems.
00:17:42 話者 63/Suwa Utaka/Hitachi
I always rely on AI when I have to take care of problems.
00:17:50 話者 6
Train on about 20,000 past cases. It provides easy-to-understand solutions.
Troubleshooting time has been cut by about 80%. But AI alone cannot solve every issue.
Suwa asked about a temperature rise in control equipment at a station.
AI suggested three possible causes.
She could not determine which was most likely, so she asked a veteran worker for help.
00:18:31 話者 64/Kaneko Atsushi/Senior Engineer, Hitachi
A fan malfunction is usually the main reason, but in this case, a different factor may have pushed up the temperature. That's more likely.
00:18:40 話者 6
The company believes AI will become even more vital, but training new workers is just as important with veterans sharing their knowledge.
00:18:54 話者 65/Takaku Yoshitake/Senior Director, Quality Assurance Division of Infrastructure Control System, Hitachi
I think AI and people can learn from each other and continue to improve.
After all, customers trust decisions made by people.
And that process helps improve AI as well.
00:19:06 話者 6
Companies are now exploring the best ways to harness the strengths of the new AI systems and the expertise of human staff.
Tanii Kengo, NHK World.
Markets
00:19:21 話者 5
Okay, let's get a check on the markets.
♪
And that is it for Business News.
A Virtual Reality Project For Peace In Gaza
00:19:55 話者 1
The Israeli military campaign against the Islamic group Hamas has left more than 70,000 people dead.
The conflict devastated ordinary life in the Gaza Strip over the past three years.
A virtual reality project aimed at preserving memories is now drawing attention in the United States.
NHK World's Sugimoto Yuki has the story.
00:20:20 話者 7/Sugimoto Yuki
At the planetarium in the state of Colorado, audiences gathered for a special screening.
Peaceful scenes of Gaza, captured with a 360-degree camera, were projected onto a dome-shaped screen.
In contrast, this is Gaza after months of intense Israeli bombardment, much of it left in ruins.
The immersive experience gave audiences a first-person perspective of life in Gaza.
00:21:00 話者 71
I think Naim did an amazing job with really bringing Gaza to life.
00:21:14 話者 7
Naim Aburaddi started this project. He left Gaza at 18 to study in the US, unable to return home because Gaza was under an Israeli blockade
He asked local photographers through friends and contacts to film the project.
00:21:36 話者 8/Naim Aburaddi/Co-founder, The Phoenix of Gaza XR
When I proposed the idea, it was about me.
I just wanted to revisit Gaza through virtual reality.
00:21:44 話者 7
Originally, his goal was to show everyday life in Gaza to help people relate.
He wanted to capture scenes rarely covered, from busy markets to wedding celebrations.
00:21:58 話者 8
They related to the, kids who are playing, they related to the people when they eat ice cream. For them, they experienced humanized Palestinians.
00:22:10 話者 7
But when large-scale fighting between Israel and Hamas broke out three years ago, the project took on a new meaning. It became an archive for disappearing Gaza.
Yahya Sobeih helped film under dangerous conditions.
Sobeih coordinated closely with Aburaddi online as he continued filming for the project.
...
...
00:22:55 話者 7
But while Abradi was showing the presentation across the US, tragedy struck.
Just hours after celebrating his daughter's birth in May last year, Sobeih was killed by an Israeli airstrike.
Despite the grief of losing a close friend, Abradi continues his work, determined to carry on Sobeih's legacy.
00:23:28 話者 8
They chose to witness, to care, to document, to love through his camera and his carriage.
And the name Nihaan Arabic means alive.
00:23:45 話者 7
The project was named
The Phoenix of Gaza, reflecting hopes for Gaza's recovery and rebirth.
00:23:54 話者 8
Hopefully one day we will capture the happy Gaza again.
We will capture the beautiful beach in Gaza.
We will capture those beautiful streets when people rebuild them.
I'm sure they will rebuild them.
00:24:08 話者 7
Through his work, Aburaddi hopes to highlight the resilience of the people in Gaza.
Sugimoto Yuki, NHK Word.
00:24:20 話者 1
This virtual reality project will also be showcased in Nagasaki, Japan from the 11 to the 17 of this month.
World Weather
As Typhoon Dolphin whirls over the Ogasawa Islands, people in Okinawa are having to keep an eye on the storm.
Our meteorologist Jonathan Oh has the details in this World Weather Report.
00:24:41 話者 9/Jonathan Oh
Hello, we have been keeping an eye out on Dolphin as it runs right over the Ogasara Islands.
And while comparatively speaking to this past weekend, it is on the weakening trend, but it's still quite intense with strong winds, heavy rainfall, and some quite high waves in the process.
Now, the storm is expected to continue to move toward the west, so we have to go through overnight into the day on Wednesday before things start to settle down across the Ogasara Islands.
But those in Okinawa prepare now as this storm will be approaching toward the west over the next few days toward the end of this week is when we're expecting to run right over the area.
And so you're looking also the same impacts of some intense winds, high waves, and heavy rainfall.
So yes, make those preparations now as the system continues to move toward the west.
We broaden out the view around Northeast Asia. We're talking about the heat.
Korean Peninsula really seeing the temperatures moving up.
We've been talking about the heat also into western portions of Japan and places like Kumamoto.
And that is not going to change as we still have the influence of high pressure right on top of the area.
So we will still be dealing with temperatures in the upper 30s in many of these locations.
And so I have to stress again, please make sure you take the proper precautions.
If you have to spend any extended period of time outdoors, try to get into some shading, stay hydrated. 38 in Seoul, 35 in Beijing, rain down toward the south.
Tokyo getting into a little more cloudy actually.
We've been getting a little bit of reprieve from time to time as we see a little bit influence of a northerly high pressure, looks like it's going to be still a little on the slightly below average side in terms of daytime highs as we go through Wednesday.
We're talking about hot weather across central portions of Europe.
Big high pressure sitting right on top of the content, which means high of 39 expected in Vienna as you go through Tuesday.
Stay safe wherever you are.
♫～ 3-DAY FORECAST ～♫
00:27:40 話者 1
And with that, we conclude this hour's NHK Newsline.
For all of us here on the program, I'm James Tengan in Tokyo. Thanks for watching.
checked.
NHK World
00:28:01 話者 99
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