McDonald’s new Salad Marinade Muffin consists of a slice of bacon, American cheese, lettuce, marinated red peppers, onions and Caesar salad dressing sandwiched between an English muffin. (It’s a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich. A BLT. ) The Salad Marinade Muffin (^_~) is an effort to expand the selection of "healthy menu" (^_^ ) choices from McDonald’s Japan. Available on the breakfast menu until 10:30 a.m. Price: JPY 210. (The Freshness Burger chain offered a BLT sandwich for a limited time in September 2007.)
photos: Open wrapper; "M" logo; BLT.

A cold water phenomenon froze fish in the sea on the coast of Miyakojima island of Okinawa. Fish frozen solid washed ashore on Yonaha beach on Jan. 10. Water temperatures in the upper levels of the sea around the island dropped by 10 degrees, to 14.6 degrees Celsius. Combined with strong northerly winds the ocean occurrence was deadly for the fish. Some residents picked up the free fish. "I want to collect a lot of the fish and cook them for side dishes with supper," said one woman.

Earthquake warnings pop up on computer screens in Japan for subscribers to the Urgent Earthquake Bulletin service from NTT telecommunications company.

When a quake alert is issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency, the NTT service will automatically open an alert window on a personal computer screen. An alarm sounds, and the warning window displays the estimated seismic intensity and counts down to the estimated arrival time.

NTT is also selling a standalone earthquake warning device called the Urgent Earthquake News Flash FLET’S Type. Flashing LED lights and an audible alarm indicate a quake warning and the quake arrival time and a countdown are announced. External warning lights can be connected to the device. FLET’S is an NTT brand of high-speed ADSL and fiber optic services.

NTT says the FLET’S quake warning service offers more precise data and details than the information that is offered in warnings on TV and in optional services that send email quake alerts to cell phones. 

A fixed-line cordless phone from Sanyo also automatically receives and loudly announces the JMA warnings. The system utilizes a standard telephone line and an included Local Area Network wireless terminal. The 1.7-inch liquid crystal display backlight on the phone handset displays a red warning, a light on the handset blinks, and the wireless LAN terminal lamp flashes red. The phone lamp also acts as a flashlight. (Read more : Phones Ring Earthquake Warnings)

An earthquake tremor occurs in Japan at least every five minutes, and annually there are up to 2000 quakes that can be felt by people.

The Urgent Earthquake Bulletin service costs JPY 525 per month. NTT sells the Urgent Earthquake News Flash FLET’S Type receiver for JPY 9,500. The monthly NTT maintenance charge is JPY 147. The unit uses an AC power source adapter. related: Getting ready for an earthquake in Tokyo; Earthquake Early Warnings.

Advertisements promoting US meat do not feature cows or pigs prominently in the ads. The Japan ad campaign features friendly farmers and happy families with few images of cattle or hogs. One US Meat Export Federation advertisement on a Tokyo train depicts a man – a farmer – standing among crops in a field. There are no cows in the picture. Where’s the beef? Another USMEF ad seen on a train depicts a young male farmer holding a little boy. Some cattle can be seen in the distance behind the farmer.

The Japanese website has beef-safety information, recipes, pages for kids, and instructions for making meat origami.

In 2004 Japan banned U.S. beef imports for the first time after a case of was confirmed in Washington state in 2003. The Japanese government lifted the beef ban in December 2005. In January 2006 the Japanese government banned imports of US beef again, then lifted that embargo in July 2007.  In December 2008 Japan banned imports of beef from a Wisconsin meat-packing plant because non-certified beef products were discovered in a shipment.

Japan, once the largest importer of US beef, is now the third-largest buyer of U.S. beef.

A US meat industry publication stated in a December 2008 report "U.S. pork continues its reign as the king of imported pork in Japan." The data shows Japan accounts for 31 percent of the total value of U.S. pork exports.

The USMEF American Meat promotion campaign is funded by U.S. beef and pork producers.