I’m from Florida. Is Miami, Florida well-known for BBQ sauce?
I haven’t lived in Florida (or even in America) for quite some time…but I don’t recall ever hearing about any “Miami BBQ“.
Well, anyway, Burger King in Japan has recently begun offering “BBQ Whopper Burgers…from Miami“.
Does Burger King offer this in America too?
Have you tried it? How does it taste? “Citrusy”?
The four special burgers for the Big America 2 campaign at McDonalds in Japan have all had their turn on the menu.
And now McDonalds Japan is bringing back the “Miami Burger” and the “Idaho Burger“.
Back on the menu for one week only...2011 March 25th - 31st.
I think the two best burgers of the “Big America 2” campaign were the “Texas2 Burger” and the “Miami Burger“…but, unfortunately for me, McDonalds isn’t bringing back the “Miami Burger” and the “Idaho Burger” to their stores across the whole country.
The “Idaho Burger” will be in their stores in 東日本 (east Japan), except for the 東北地方 (“Tohoku Region”) which is the area that was hit by the recent disaster, and the “Miami Burger” will be in McDonalds in 西日本 (western Japan).
Tokyo, which is where I live, is in eastern Japan…so the “Idaho Burger” is available here until 31 March. I prefer the “Miami Burger” though.
I won’t be buying an “Idaho Burger“, but I do plan to try the other new burger that is currently on the menu at McDonalds Japan…the 「チリチキン」 (“Chili Chicken”) sandwich.
The "Chili Chicken" sandwich is available at McDonalds all over Japan.
I love chili and I love chicken…so I think I’ll like this sandwich!
Japan is well-known for it’s excellent public transportation system. Especially in big cities like Tokyo.
Japan’s trains, buses and subways are clean, safe, extremely punctual, convenient and affordable.
Even though the taxis here aren’t really affordable (a taxi ride in Japan is pricey), they’re also clean, safe and convenient.
You may also know that Japan has an excellent 「新幹線」 (“Bullet train” (or “Shinkansen” in Japanese)) system.
"Shinkansen" (Bullet train) passing Mt. Fuji.
Japan’s 「新幹線」 (Bullet train) system is the world’s busiest and fastest bullet-train service.
The speed record was set a few years ago when the 「新幹線」 (Bullet train) reached a speed of over 580 km/hr on a test-run. With passengers though, the trains travel up to about 300 km/hr.
When U.S. President Obama announced that America would begin building and using bullet-trains systems in various parts of America with the first one scheduled to connect Tampa, Florida (my hometown) to Orlando and Miami, Florida many bullet-train companies around the world began bidding for the contract to build Florida’s first high-speed train service.
Map of Florida showing the planned bullet-train routes.
Companies in Canada, Germany and France are competing with Japan for the contract.
But it seems that Japan’s JR Tokai company has a good chance of winning the bid.
If Japan wins the bid then Florida will have a 「新幹線」 (Bullet train) system like Japan’s.
One of JR Tokai's 「新幹線」 (Bullet train) trains.
I wonder if America will be able to maintain the punctuality, safety and convenience of Japan’s train systems.
Have you ever ridden a 「新幹線」 (Bullet train) in Japan? Or any of Japan’s trains or subways?
Have you taken public transportation in other countries?
What are your impressions?
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By the way, today is a national holiday in Japan…「勤労感謝の日」 (“Labor Day”). (Click here to read my short “F.A.Q.” about it.)
I grew up in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. I left there two decades ago…but it’s still where I grew up.
So I was interested when I heard a story on the TV news recently that involved both Tampa, Florida and Japan.
The news said that Florida plans to build a 新幹線 (bullet train) line from Tampa to Orlando and continue on to Miami.
When I lived in Florida, there was no public transportation system to speak of…and definitely no train—especially a bullet train!
Many countries, including Japan, are putting bids in to build this new train line for Florida.
The trains in Japan are spotless, safe, and extremely punctual. But I wonder if it’ll be the same situation in America, even if Japan builds the bullet train system for them…because a big factor in Japan’s excellent public transportation system is not only the technology but also Japan’s culture itself.
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Until yesterday, Japan had a fifteen year 時効 (Statute of Limitations) for murder.
That meant that if someone killed another person in Japan and the police couldn’t catch them with that time limit they would be free of any chance of prosecution for that crime from then on.
But a new law was passed yesterday that completely abolished the Statute of Limitations for murder…and it’s retroactive. So there is now no Statute of Limitations for any murder committed on 1995 April 28 or later.
Actually, this bill was rushed through the Japanese Senate in order to be passed yesterday because there is an unsolved murder case that occurred on that exact date of 1995 April 28…so if this bill wasn’t passed into law yesterday, whoever it was that stabbed an elderly couple to death in their home and then burned their house down (apparently in an effort to cover their crime) would be free from any possibility of being punished for that heinous crime.
But now there is no longer a time limit for the police to catch murderers in Japan.
(Thankfully though, the violent crime rate in Japan is extremely low.)
Do you know what the World Baseball Classic is?
World Baseball Classic logo
It’s a new international baseball competition. Like soccer’s World Cup.
The World Baseball Classic 2009 started today.
This is only the second time that the World Baseball Classic occurred.
The World Baseball Classic 2006 was the first and only other time this competition took place so far.
Japan was the champion team of the World Baseball Classic 2006 games.
The first game of the World Baseball Classic 2009 was Japan vs China. This game took place this afternoon (Japan time) at the Tokyo Dome.
Japan beat China with a final score of 4-0.
The next game will be Korea vs Taipei, also at the Tokyo Dome. Japan will face the winning team of that game on March 7th (again at the Tokyo Dome).
At the Tokyo Dome
The Japan team has high hopes of winning the World Baseball Classic again.
The host cities for the World Baseball Classic ’09 are Tokyo, Japan; Mexico City, Mexico; Toronto, Canada; San Juan, Puerto Rico; San Diego, USA; Miami, USA; and Los Angeles, USA.
The countries that have teams competing are: Japan (with Ichiro Suzuki and Daisuke Matsuzaka on the team), South Korea, China, Taipei, Australia, Canada, USA, Mexico, Dominican Republic (with Alex Rodriguez on the team), Cuba, Italy, The Netherlands, Panama, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and South Africa.
The World Baseball Classic 2009 will go from today’s game that Japan won until the final in Los Angeles on March 23, 2009.
Do you like baseball?
Are you following the World Baseball Classic? Which team are you supporting?
Did you watch the Japan vs China game today? If so, did you watch it on TV…or were you at the Tokyo Dome?
By the way, if you wanna visit the official World Baseball Classic homepage…then, click here.
Tokyo Five 
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