Mark_McCracken comments

American levels of perceived hygiene are unacceptable in Japan. Just yesterday in a Kyoto McDonald's I saw a woman making burgers bend down and pick up a piece of lettuce off the floor and throw it away. She didn't then wash her hand. She went right back to making burgers with her hands, including mine. I tolerate that kind of poor hygiene in the US. But seeing something like that will make Japanese customers swear-off McDonald's and explain to all their friends why they are doing so. McDonald's Japan's problems are systemic. Good luck trying to find a buyer for that.

McDonald's Holdings in Japan's President and CEO Casanova should have been fired months ago. The food at McDonald's tastes worse than before. I've recently seen staff do things which make me question their food safety training.

Is it too much to ask RocketNews24 to employ writers who are more knowledgeable of Japan, or writers who have better research skills?

A simple google search would have shown a link to an LA Times article from May 23, 1989 which documented Carl's Jr's first restaurant in Japan.

I have to point out though that he didn't star in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

Perhaps "star" is too strong a word. Sheen certainly did appear in the movie, though.

The epicenter of the quake was 590 kilometers deep

This seems to be incorrect. The epicenter is on the surface of the earth. The focus of the earthquake is what would be 590 km deep.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epicenter

Plans like this seem to have a way of not working out. Back in 2004 U.S. movie studio Paramount Pictures said they would build a theme park in the town of Hisayama, Fukuoka Prefecture. It was supposed to open in 2010.

Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa: "hate speech breeds feelings of insecurity and hatred, undermines individuals' dignity, and only creates greater discrimination and therefore must not be allowed."

Constitution of Japan, Article 21: "Freedom of assembly and association as well as speech, press and all other forms of expression are guaranteed. No censorship shall be maintained, nor shall the secrecy of any means of communication be violated."

This type of accident is 100% preventable. Create a lock out box to the roller coaster's power supply. Give all maintenance personnel individual locks with their names on them. Force everyone to lock the box before they enter the dangerous area. It's impossible for someone to turn on the power until each maintenance member has returned and removed his/her individual lock.

Is it that hard for this guy to find relevant guests to interview?

Boston is in Japan, playing concerts in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka. Is that not relevant enough?

Anonymity fosters rudeness.

Yes. No.

Osaka as well - the big Naniwa Yodogawa Hanabi was canceled today after being postponed yesterday.

"Women who won't have sex with war-loving men".

This "group" reportedly only has one member, according to The Japan Times (May 9)

Good article. This, combined with tsunami projections for your local area can be very useful. For example, here in Osaka, they forecast about 1 hour and 50 minutes between a Nankai Trough earthquake and a tsunami landing in downtown Osaka. Here are the Osaka depth projections http://www.pref.osaka.lg.jp/kikikanri/tsunamishinsuisoutei/.

Doesn't TEPCO have more important things to think about?

No "Tokyo Love Story"?

Kimuzukashi,

Here you go.

Country and regional breakdowns are on page two.

http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/ttp/sta/PDF/E2013.pdf

Wait, I see. Blackstone will continue to hold 81.5% of the company. The market cap is 21.4 billion dollars, so they did manage to make a total profit of about 7% over 6 years.

"When the Blackstone Group led a $20 billion buyout of Hilton six years ago, the worldwide recession was about to hit. "

"Hilton IPO brings in $2.35 bil"

If this is true, they lost 87% of the money they invested.

Disillusioned, Kent, Wakarimasen and letsberealistic,

This is indeed a Charlie Chaplin character. Please Google "The Great Dictator."

"a song that is between two and eight bars in length."

Eight bars of music is more of a stanza than a song.

Madonna and Ritchie were divorced in 2008, and a decade later she is back in New York...

...where, apparently, it is already the year 2018.

The headline is wrong. According to the first paragraph, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee has backed the nomination. The U.S. Senate has not yet voted on the nomination.

The City Bakery, underground between Osaka station and Grand Front.

Congratulations.

Don't downgrade McDonald's Japan to the level of McDonald's USA. Taste has diminished significantly in the last 20 years in Japan. Double cheeseburgers now lack the heat necessary to melt the cheese they are sandwiched between. Compete with Mos Burger on taste and freshness, even if it means raising the prices slightly.

Government data show 30 out of 100 married couples filed for a divorce in 2011, twice as many as in 1991.

30%? That seems unlikely. Perhaps you mean 3%?

Stop wiping away sweat. Your body sweats so water can evaporate on your skin, and reduce your body temperature. I see guys with these stupid towels around their neck wiping every drop away. Not only will you not get cooler like that, you'll continue to sweat, promote dehydration, increasing the likelihood of heatstroke.

Overpriced. You can get 50,000 mAh chargers on ebay direct from China for about US$30.

The author declined to quantify the "collapse", instead saying, "The situation is dismal". So, I tried to find out just how "dismal" this "collapse" was.

For the 12 months ended December 31, 2012, McDonald's Holdings Japan's Same-store sales decreased by 3.3%. All store-sales, which are combined sales of company-operated and franchised stores declined by 1.0%.

http://www.mcd-holdings.co.jp/english/news/2013/release-130207.html