four out of five seats were taken by the ldp. next in the kapt althoucapital ldp went from 4 to 21. and in the restoration party, they were the most popular. the party was created by the mayor of osaka. the dpj lost all its seats. we're joined now by political commentator nakajima. what led to the landslide victory? >> a lot of voters were disappointed with what has been referred to as an experiment with the democrats. the party leaders made a lot of dreamy promises to voters in the last election. now the voters feel that the leaders missed their opportunity. they promised to cut wasteful government spending, reform the pension system and not raise the consumption tax and the democrats essentially broke all these promises. >> why were voters drawn to abe and his party? >> abe managed to paint a gloomy picture of the democrats and the effect their rule has had on the country. he said the democrats have weakened japan, its foreign policy and its economy. he promised to take a hard stance in relations with china. he said democrats nuclear policy posed a threat to the economy. he critic

>> i don't believe japanese voters gave their full trust in the ldp yet, and even the leader of the ldp, mr. abe mentions that. however, many voters of the japanese had a hard time to choose a party to vote for and the ldp had a plan to move this country. they had no other choice but the ldp to vote for, i guess. >> liberal democrats held power almost continuously for more than 50 years. what priorities will leader shinzo abe push forward in this administration? >> mr. abe has to push two things, one is social security process coupled with the consumer debt. the other is stimulate the budget economy in japan. however, mr. abe seems to be very careful about running this country and the ldp seems to be very much determined to keep, maintain coalition with the new komeito and from one issue to another, depending the issues, the ldp seems to change the partner for corporations from the new party, restoration or the euro party or even dpj. >> let's talk about the voter turnout. it was the lowest it's been since world war ii. why did so many japanese skip out on casting ballots? >> okay. i th

boj governor visited ldp headquarters on tuesday. during their meeting abe urged him to consider setting up policy accord for 2% inflation target after the new administration is established. he declined to elaborate on his discussion with abe. the central bank's policy meeting starts from wednesday. abe repeatedly called for bold monetary easing during his election campaign to help defeat deflation but the boj governor stressed the central bank has been providing the largest amount of market liquidity among advanced countries, implying the boj has already taken sufficient monetary easing. abe told business leaders he plans to pull through on promises and pull japan out of inflation. >> translator: we have to beat deflation, curb the strong yen and grow jobs. we'll do anything to grow the japanese economy. i deeply believe reviving the economy will lead to a stronger japan. >> members of the japan business federation want japanese negotiators to join talks on the transpacific partnership free trade deal. abe said he'll study the issue

he visited ldp headquarters on tuesday. during the meeting abe urged him to consider setting a policy accord for a 2% inflation target a. the new administration is established. he declined to elaborate on his discussion with abe. the central bank's policy meeting starts from wednesday. abe repeatedly called for bold monetary easing during the election campaign to help stop inflation. they will had the largest amount of liquidity among advanced country. he implied they have taken sufficient monetary easing measures. abe told business leaders he intends to follow-through on the promises and pull japan out of deflation. >> translator: we have to beat deflation, curb the strong yen and create jobs. we'll do anything we can to grow the japanese economy. i deeply believe reviving the economy will lead to a stronger japan. >> members of the japan business federation want japanese negotiators to join talks on the trans pacific partnership free trade deal. abe said he will study the issue thoroughly. abe took time this morning for a

he has chaired a special lower house committee on okinawa and other terrors to and head of the ldp's foreign affairs division. economic revival minister is akira amari and i will spearhead a new task force on that issue and also responsible for the council on economic and fiscal policy, which is being restored after it was cut by the previous government. >>> shinzo abe is bringing a wealth of experience with him back to the prime minister's office, not just from his career but also from the lessons taught to him by his family. politic it is run in abe's blood. his grandfather was a prime minister. his father severed as foreign minister. abe launched his political career about 20 years ago. voters elected him to the lower house. his father died while running for prime minister. >> translator: i will fulfill my grandfather's wish. >> reporter: he was deputy secretary when he attended a trip to north korea ten years ago n 2006, he became japan's youngest postwar prime minister at age 52. >> translator: i am determined to create a beautiful japan. >> but he stepped down after just one ye

can be trusted to do that. >> this woman also took ldp. the country must stand up for itself and be strong, she said, echoing the views of many in japan that the ldp will restore national pride. this election is a dramatic defeat for prime minister yoshi hikunoda. and the emerging as a major force in national politics, the outspoken nationalist of the japan restoration party is predicted to become the third largest pure conservative and nationalist candidates have been helped in the selection by recent spats between japan and its asian neighbors. china in particular. the question now is will they back up tough talks with tough action once in office. ruling african's national congress party is meeting to choose its next leader. the current party leader is being challenged by his deputy. thousands of delegates are meeting for the summit held every five years. but they are facing criticism for corruption and infighting. a former british army doctor is found guilty of misconduct. the charges date back to 2003 when hotel receptionist died after

the election was more an attempt to punish the dpj rather than a ringing endorsement of the ldp. abe is not particularly popular and i think he's aware of this. i think initially he would be very careful in trying to do this. >> so what will -- are you saying expectations, he will lean on the bank of japan early are wrong? >> possibly, yes. >> why wouldn't he act? would he wait until we have upper house elections in the summer? >> well, i think, yeah, turn house elections in the upcoming summer are going to be very important. stimulating the economy is something he will do to help him enact controversial security policy changes. >> having been at the boj yours, would you agree what you're hearing there from brad? >> i think yes, politically, they worked be careful how they form the majority, the upper house, as well. in order to get the majority and the upper house election in the coming summer, they should show some success in terms of market policy or the fiscal policy. the first thing i think they should spawn separate budgets and this will give the way for the more popularity

the ldp can be trusted to do that. >> this woman also voted ldp. this country must -- >> this country must stand up for itself and be strong. >> this election is a dramatic defeat for the prime minister, who announced his resignation with his democratic party of japan likely to lose two-thirds of their seats. emerging as a major force in national politics, the outspoken nationalist restoration party is predicted to become the third largest. >> conservative and nationalist candidates have been helped by recent spats between japan and their asian neighbors, china in particular. the question now is if they will back up the tough talk with action. >> of the ruling african national congress party is meeting to choose its next leader. the current party late -- party leader is being challenged by his secretary. thousands of delegates will pay for the summit that comes every year. but they also face criticism for corruption and in fighting. a former british army doctor has been found guilty of dishonest conduct over the death of an iraqi prisoner. the char

analysts point out that farmers have been long-time ldp supporters, but the ldp leader, a abe, isn't turning his back on the business community. he has said a government led by his party would be able to negotiate with the u.s. and other tpp nations on exceptions for eliminating tariffs on certain products. so voters in japan are left with more questions than answers about when or whether their country will take part in the tpp negotiations. the debate over the merits or merits of joining this pact will likely continue long after the general election is over. nhk world, tokyo. >>> nhk world's special coverage of japan's general election is a click or tap away. starting december 10th we'll add a host of features to the web and mobile sites. you'll find background and analysis and in depth reports on issues that define the campaign from the economy and energy policy to disaster recovery and more. get online and get nfd. ww www.nhk.or.jp/nhkword. >>> investigators in central japan have found hundreds of safety problems at the site of a fatal accident. concrete ceiling panels in a highwa

. >> that echoes the opinion of many in japan that the ldp will restore international supremacy. capitalizing on nationalist sentiment, this man could produce an upset if his right wing japan restoration party when banks enough seats to hold the balance of power. -- wins enough seats to hold the balance of power. a sudden lurch to the far right under a nationalist coalition government. >> it is said to have the worst performing time in the world. coming up after the break, we will go to sudan where prices have tripled and anger is rising. plus -- ♪ a group of teenagers are turning trash into a musical treasures. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> we will start by checking up on the progress of cyclone evan. it is making its way away from american samoa. it is drifting toward fiji. these pictures are coming out of samoa recently. ankle deep mud. many houses have been flattened and the whole country is without power and water. that can be the case for a couple of weeks. it will make its way to the north of fiji. significantly high wind gusts. str

actually, what -- the only policy they didn't really try, according to ldp, was being extremely aggressive, not as -- or much more aggressive than what they've been in the past on the monetary side. not that sure as far as i'm concerned if this is the right approach. so giving more money to the system and washing out the system with more money. but this is what has been decided and probably it's good if you look at the perspective of japanese economy in the next two quarters. >> luca, before we get into those prospects, i want to circle back to those policies. sure cow wa's policy is up sometime next year. and after a political campaign that saw so much receipt rif about central bank policy, what kind of policy is he trying to see here? does he want to be the guy who takes the tough stance against that rhetoric or sdupt to be the guy who boosts major efforts against the japanese economy? >> obviously, he has been pushed. there is no question about this. he has been pushed to act and he preannounced that at the next meeting they're going to discuss the inflation target, which was one of the

. >> a landslide victory for the conservative ldp party. voters are putting their trust in his promise to get the economy back on track. >> the mission we have been given is to beat inflation and deal with the high yen and wall dealing with the economy and working to create more jobs. >> many voters were critical over the handling of the devastating earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster. they say it was last eight support rather than a rejection of the outgoing premier. >> politics is all about the results. we have to take responsibility. the cause of this major defeat lies with me, as the leader of this party. i hereby take these results seriously and i will resign as the leader of the democratic party in japan. what's the future of the japanese power plants was not a big issue in the race. the future prime minister is a staunch supporter of nuclear power. in his view, it would be disastrous for the fraud trial japanese economy. >> and now on to market news. germany also heard ld the japane results. >> the election outcome was driving

abe has prepared to take the reins by filling the ldp's top positions. masahiko komura and shigeru ishiba retained their posts. consumer affairs minister seiko noda as head of the party's general council. and sanae takaichi will change her focus from public relations to become the policy chief. cabinet ministers are falling into place. he selected longtime ally fumio kishida as foreign minister. he served as minister in charge of okinawa and the northern territories. analysts say that he chose him for his experience. the new foreign minister will have to deal with the relocation of the futenma air station in okinawa. abe is pressuring the bank of japan again to swiftly join his government and put an end to deflation. he says it's only natural for the government to get involved in shaping monetary policy noting that conventional steps have failed to pull japan out of the drawn-out price downturn. abe made his call with officials of the japan business federation or keidanren on tuesday. >> translator: soon after we form a new cabinet tomorrow, i hope the g

ldp government leaders agreed in 2006 to keep the futenma air station in okinawa. the first dpj prime minister promised in 2009 to move it outside of the prefecture. hatoyama later decided the base should be relocated within the prefecture. the critics say the flip-flop weakened relation with the u.s. and they say the leaders of neighboring countries saw an opportunity to take advantage. >> translator: the dpj ripped apart the japan/u.s. relationship. these problems are a result of their failures in diplomacy over three years. >> reporter: and now japanese face another threat from north korea. on wednesday officials there launched what they called a rocket to put a satellite into space. but political leaders in tokyo, seoul and washington say what they were doing was testing technology for long range ballistic missile. tension, uncertainty, opportunity. just some of the reasons why u.s. leaders are moving forward with what they call a pivot towards the asia-pacific. >> the united states is turning our attention to the vast potential of the asia-pacific region. >> r

>> the prime minister has stated his views on pulling our country out of deflation since he became ldp leader. i think it's only natural to choose a person who shares such ideas. >> suga said abe gave instructions for a large scale a budget for this fiscal year. he hopes it will boou the flagging economy. the south korean president elect said she would tackle the growing disparity between the giant conglomerates and smaller businesses. she's now trying to keep the election promise. she met representatives of an association of smaller companies and merchants. she said she wants to protect the interests of smaller businesses by cracking down on unfair competition and illegal transactions by big firms. a focal point on the presidential election was how to deal with wage disparities among large and smaller firms. another key issue was unfair working conditions for part-time employees. she's calling on large companies for self-restraint to show the public she's keeping her election pledge. more business headlines for you next hour. let's look at markets. >>> the japan aerospace exploration

its candidates are asking voters why they would return power to the ldp simply because they are dissatisfied with the dpj. restoration party candidates promised that they would change japan fundamentally. they have attracted followers with promises to lessen the role of government and promote more free-market competition. but, you know, we are only on day one, so we are going to have to wait and see how all these factors play out. >> and that was nhk world's masayo nakajima. >>> joushgen government officials say authorities in their neighbor to the north are another step closer to launching a long-range ballistic missile. they say crews in north korea may have finished installing the first two stages of a three-stage missile and could be hard at work on the third. the officials say it's all unfolding at a launch pad at tong chongry in the northwestern part of the country. they know preparations are going faster than suspected. north korean leaders have said they would use a rocket to send a satellite into orbit sometime between dose 10th and 22nd. they attempted a similar launch in april, bu

ldp government leaders agreed in 2006 to keep the futenma air station in okinawa. the first dpj prime minister promised in 2009 to move it outside of the prefecture. hatoyama later decided the base should be relocated within the prefecture. the critics say the flip-flop weakened relation with the u.s. and they say the leaders of neighboring countries saw an opportunity to take advantage. >> translator: the dpj ripped apart the japan/u.s. relationship. these problems are a result of their failures in diplomacy over three years. >> reporter: and now japanese face another threat from north korea. on wednesday officials there launched what they called a rocket to put a satellite into space. but political leaders in tokyo, seoul and washington say what they were doing was testing technology for long range ballistic missile. tension, uncertainty, opportunity. just some of the reasons why u.s. leaders are moving forward with what they call a pivot towards the asia-pacific. >> the united states is turning our attention to the vast potential of the asia-pacific region. >> r

noda dissolved lower house of parliament in mid-november and then the possibility of a victory for the ldp led by shinzo abe really gave a boost to the markets because of his pledge to seek strong monetary easing measures and we did see the yen actually shed a lot of its strength that it had seen earlier in the year sending exporter and financial stocks to their highs. the inauguration of shinzo abe as prime minister also gave a last push to stocks and really we saw the nikkei driving 0 above that 10,000 level to a fresh high today of 10,395. now to see how stock markets here in japan are going to fare in 2013 i interviewed the senior strategist at daiwa securities. >> i think there will be some risk factors related to u.s. and china and europe. and fiscal cliff issue in the u.s. is one of top concerns. that's, i think, just a matter of time. obama administration will be able to overcome the difficulty of this situation sooner or later. so i don't care about it. and regarding china, china economic trend is another big concern. but, we think china has already achieved soft landing. >> so he

it has raised questions that the ldp could have on regulators. we spoke to a top u.s. nuclear regulator visiting japan to meet with authorities. >> reporter: william magwood serves as one of five nuclear regulatory commissioners. japanese government officials considered his organization an example when they built their new nuclear regulatory authority, or nra. >> and what we would like to do is give the new nra the benefit of the mistakes we've made. we've learned those lessons. we can pass on that experience, and any time -- >> reporter: one key lesson magwood wants to share with japanese officials is that politicians and nuclear regulation don't mix. >> independence of the regulatory agency is an essential key to assuring the right kinds of decisions are made, the right kind of safety processes put in place. in the united states, nrc is designed to basically ignore entirely the political winds around it. if, for example, president obama had lost the election and governor romney had won, it would not have affected our work. >> reporter: nrc officials are reviewing the

but the ldp's position is not to simply say let's go nuclear-free. that's because we're a responsible party. >> abe said the real issue is how to secure enough electricity. he added it would be unreasonable to rely on renewable energy sources as they have yet to be fully developed. the leader of the newly formed tomorrow party, yukiko kada, called for an end to nuclear power generation within a decade. she added her party would push for electricity conservation measures and the development of alternative sources of energy. japan restoration party leader and former tokyo governor shintaro ishihara said people who talk about reducing nuclear power should think first about the country's energy mix. he called for simulations to determine whether japan can afford to shut down its nuclear plants. official campaigning for the election kicks off on tuesday. voters will head to the polls on december 16th. >>> experts in japan are preparing to dig for more answers in regards to safety at some of the country's nuclear power plants. they're trying to assess the

ldp is already verbally putting this on. it's almost a race who can put more pressure to bank of japan in the sense that they can alleviate the market. of course from a westerner's point of view, i'm sure in a dangerous move that they were asserting far too much pressure to central banks. but that's exactly almost like a tool that's been used for many of the parties involved to get elected right now in japan. >> all right. thank you. good to see you. on the asian agenda tomorrow, third quarter growth figures. india, a check on the country's services industry. and on the political front, as well, parliament gets ready to vote on allowing foreign supermarkets to finally set up shop. mean while in the states, the white house and top democrats have dismissed the latest budget proposal put forward by house republicans. they say it doesn't address the president's pledge to hike taxes on the wealthy. it heaves the bush era tax cuts in place for everyone. it's half of what the president has proposed. it also cut $1.2 trillion moneta

this reading comes two days before a nationwide vote that suggests it will hand the ldp position a landslide win. >>> we're going to give you all the latest results from the flash december data for the pmi for the eurozone that we're just getting out. the overall, the deposit is a touch stronger for the month of december. the details show the manufacturing weakened slightly and its services strengthened slightly. they are overall still in negative territory. and we're seeing the euro/dollar respond a little bit to the downside. down about 0.01% trying to fight back into flat on the day. 130.75 is the level there. again, the services pmi is at 47.8. compared with the 47 that was expected. it's a five-month high. the manufacturing pmi, 46.1. the manufacturing all told, 46.3. that's a bit under the poll of 46.6. with more on the reaction to these figures, we have rob doddson with us. rob, welcome. it appears ta stronger services may be weaker on the manufacturing relative to expectations, at least, but the message broadly is still contraction. >> that's the case. we're seeing the pmi indexes tr

that means if the ldp can't get their majority, these bills could be delayed even more. back to you, ross. >> all right, thanks for that. that's the late fres the nikkei. still to come, the business of entertainment in asia, it's big. going to get even bigger. we'll talk to one hollywood heavyweight about asia's star power. >>> more than 4,000 trade officials have come over. high park entertainment has made more than a billion dollars from films like "ghost rider," "raising helen" and "blue valentine." good to see you, thanks for joining us. let's talk about -- this is the content business, okay? so i'm interested in if you're selling content globally or internationally, how much international content is there? i mean, james bond is an international film. you can sell it all over the world. is that the exception? do you have to have local content for local markets or is there really a big international trade? >> well, ross, it's great to be here. you know, my company high park entertainment, the focus is very much on the international market. i think there's room for eve

well, not only did the ldp party win the election, they won what's called a super majority. that means they can really set a legislative agenda in the lower house going forward and the market didn't necessarily expect that. so, it is pretty dubbish for the currency. so, i would like to actually go long on dollar yen. i know this is a crowded trade, but i think a lot of people still like it. i think we can have another run higher, you know, into the end of the year and the start of next year. so, i'm waiting for 45 pull-back, about, to $83.40, where it entered the trade. i'm looking for a run up to $86 as a figure and put a stop-down at $82.50. >> amelia bordeau, thank you. here's one way to play the housing recovery. shares of tronox, a maker of tie tame one oxide, could double in the next year. this name has been on our radar, actually, tim's radar, for some time now. >> sure. >> here's what he said last month. >> this is definitely a stock which is linked to global recovery. linked to housing recovery, especially in this country. it trades at four times earnings. you don't

the ldp is in favor of keeping the nuclear reactors. back to you, kelly. >> okay. japan is not the only major company facing an election. in south korea, economic stimulus and reigning in big conglomerates have rained in major concerns in that campaign. sherry change has more on this from seoul. hi, sherry. >> hi, kelly, theater. the debate was on economic policies this time and the two major candidates ruling conservative party and main opposition parties, both called in for the so-called economiczation. park says its elect official and establish a transport system that gives fair opportunity to all. whereas mon size, others say there's another way to go. park called for ways to tackle high household ded debt and reanxietyize the property market. moon, on the other hand, said distributing the benefit of growth with the working glass will perk up domestic demand. who came out as a winner? many experts say they both neglected the discussion of new growth engines and lacked specific ideas on how to implement the policies they're calling for. at this point, it's a ver

the yen after the boj governor said he met abe at his ldp headquarters, but declined to mention if he had spoken about monetary policy with the country's incoming prime minister. the meeting was the official face-to-face talk between them since the election last weekend. abe later said he had asked the boj chief to consider establishing an acourt with the government and set a 2% inflation target as part of tokyo's vow to battle inflation. this comes ahead of the boj policy meeting which begins tomorrow. members are expected to discuss the pros and cons of raising a price target. but a decision will likely come at the board policy meeting in january. the nikkei is recording that abe will offer the former prime minister an important cap net post. he is likely to become the country's next finance minister or foreign minister. when he was japan's prime minister back in 2008. back to you, kelly. >> thanks. we're seeing the nikkei up about 1% today, clearly respond to go all of these developments. straight ahead on the program, the hotel industry is shirking the trend and continuing to expa

consumption tax in japan which had been agreed in principal now looks increasingly unlikely now that the ldp has won and they had always been skeptical about this in any case. and given that japan is now in recession, the likelihood of not going through as scheduled is becoming -- >> that's a great point. >> and that's going to increase the fiscal debt. >> and people were looking for a spur in domestic spending because this tax hike was coming. if that's not going to happen, we shouldn't expect that boost. where does that leave actually the outlook for growth here? >> i think there will have to be some near term fiscal growth next year. japan is heading towards a debt crisis unless it takes some remedial action within the next two or three years. it's not imminent because it's domestically funded still to a large extent. but i think that, you know, you're heading towards a crisis in japan on the debt story unless some actions are taken. and unless it looks like they'll take the key step necessary which is doubling the consumption tax rate, if that doesn't happen as scheduled and they're head

erbe and ldp seem to be putting more emphasis on infrastructure spending, fiscal expenditures, you know, that may be also chaired by the stock market. and also aggressive monetary policy by the boj might include other asset purchase programs. so actually, you know, both currency market and the stock market will be closely watching the outcome of the election and the policy going forward. >> we'll leave it there. thank you very much today. >>> european finance ministers due to meet in a last-ditch paem attempt to agree on union supervisor. the timetable for implementing reforms are seen as main sticking points. germany's reluctance to hand over supervision of all of its banks to the ecb. france wants the central bank to have ultimate responsibility. that's not to mention demands from the u.k., sweden, and the netherlands which makes us have stuart richardson, still with us, whether the banking union thing's going to happen. if so, when? >> i think the move toward some sort of banking union is in progress here. it has been -- european, a work in progress. so it would appear that sweden wa

looking at the ldp that got elected. everybody knows that japan is going to kind of pump it up starting in march/april. an ecb that has given you two different things and people only read one thing. they gave you the put with the omp with spain but they gave you a second put which you guys didn't talk about which is amazing. >> what's the second piece of it then? >> the second piece was when they were just this last meeting and you had this vote, how did the vote go? you know how the vote went for lower interest rates? you guys know how -- can somebody put on their prompter so they can figure out what it is? how did the vote go for lower interest rates? i'll tell you how the vote went. lower interest rates. they didn't lower interest rates this time. what they said, though, if you go back and look at it, every member before voted for lower interest rates. majority for lower interest rates. who didn't vote for lower interest rates? it was azulman, if my pronunciation is wrong, there's no way i'm going to get it right. pit