MLS gaining respectability, soccer league ‘on a good path’

It's ahead of France's Ligue 1 (21,029), Japan's J1 League (19,107 ... but I think it's on a good path." Fox, the Earthquakes president who was previously CEO of English Aston Villa, said MLS is starting to play at a level hardcore soccer fans are ... ( read original story ...)

Zen monk Seigaku: A life with less can be so much more

Japanese monk Seigaku lives a Zen life with as little money ... Buddhist Study that would grant him ¥1 million for one year. But then the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident in Fukushima occurred and he changed his destination. ( read original story ...)

Japan’s hotel room crunch might be a glut

And most of the rooms that will be added over the next few years are expected to be in business hotels. Japan's APA Group, for example, plans to open 47 hotels with a combined 14,500 rooms through 2020. In Tokyo, many hotels are suffering stagnant ... ( read original story ...)

Umbilical: Linking friends with fine food and wine

Tokyo is a tough place to open any business, especially your first restaurant. Along with kitchen skills and front-of-house nous, you need the right location, good connections and a strong underlying raison d’etre. A catchy name and some funky background ... ( read original story ...)

Toyota, Mazda plant in U.S. may bring 4,000 jobs

Toyoda denied that Trump’s views influenced his decision. “We have been reviewing the best production strategy for our business,” he told reporters at a Tokyo hotel, after shaking hands with Mazda President Masamichi Kogai. Trump welcomed the announc ... ( read original story ...)

Canon Electronics-led team hopes to develop low-cost rocket

TOKYO -- Canon Electronics is leading a venture that will work ... The three other parties will have stakes of 10%. The business is not expected to get underway until at least the end of fiscal 2017. When it does begin operating, it will try to meet ... ( read original story ...)

Panda-themed Adventure World express debuts in Osaka

OSAKA – A Kuroshio limited express train led by a car with a panda face debuted Saturday in Osaka to lure tourists to Adventure World, the giant wildlife theme park in Wakayama Prefecture where the popular animals are on show. “I’m about to board the ... ( read original story ...)

Japan’s Glico tripling ice cream production in Thailand

OSAKA -- Japanese snack maker Ezaki Glico plans to triple ice cream output in Thailand to between 2 billion yen and 3 billion yen ($18 million and $27 million) worth of the sweet stuff by 2020. The Osaka-based confectioner at its own expense recently ... ( read original story ...)

Light earthquake: M4.1 quake has struck near Shingu in Japan

A light earthquake magnitude 4.1 (ml/mb) has struck on Friday, 53 kilometers (33 miles) from Shingu in Japan. Exact location of event, longitude 135.9047 East, latitude 33.251 North, depth = 437.31 km. Event id: us2000a3ly. Ids that are associated to the ... ( read original story ...)

Moderate earthquake, 5 mag was detected near Iwo Jima in Japan

A moderate earthquake with magnitude 5 (ml/mb) was reported 227 km WNW of Iwo Jima, Japan (141 miles) on Saturday. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 15.85 km (10 miles). Exact location, longitude 139.3385° East, latitude 25.7423° North, depth = 15.85 km. ( read original story ...)

Japan Discovers How to Keep Popsicles From Melting

But this summer in Japan, people are enjoying better living through chemistry ... which is still recovering from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The pastry chef charged with using strawberry polyphenol in confections complained that it made dairy cream ... ( read original story ...)