Japan

• Aurelio de Laurentiis says Spaniard will take over Italian club• Napoli are in Champions League after second-placed finishNapoli hope to confirm the appointment of Rafael Benítez as their new manager next week upon the Spaniard's return from the United States, where the Chelsea interim manager is concluding his short-term employment with the Europa League winners on their post-season tour.Benítez's agent, Manuel García Quilón, met with the Napoli president, Aurelio de Laurentiis, in Rome on Thursday and is understood to have agreed a two-year contract, possibly with an option for a third, worth around ¤3.5m (£3m) a season. He would replace Walter Mazzarri, Napoli's manager of almost four years who announced last week he would be leaving the club despite steering them to second in Serie A and a place in next season's Champions League. Mazzarri is expected to take over at Internazionale.De Laurentiis confirmed in an interview with Sky Italia on Friday: "Benítez is the new coach of Napoli. I gave myself a birthday present. I'll make it official in the next few days as he has to end his time at Chelsea, but he'll be our new coach for the next two years."That confidence may be slightly premature given the deal is still to be formally concluded, and Benítez could yet be swayed to move elsewhere if an offer was to materialise from Paris Saint-Germain or a leading club in Spain. Yet Napoli remain the 53-year-old's likeliest destination, with his future set to be confirmed upon his return to London with Chelsea on Sunday.The Spaniard has enjoyed a tumultuous if ultimately successful seven-month stint at Stamford Bridge after replacing Roberto Di Matteo last November. Chelsea won the Europa League and finished third in the Premier League, ensuring qualification for the Champions League, to meet the objectives laid down by Roman Abramovich when he was hired. There were near-misses, too, in the Capital One Cup, FA Cup and Fifa Club World Cup in Japan over a draining campaign that stretched to 69 competitive games.While it quickly became clear that the supporters would not countenance his permanent appointment, Benítez's current contract technically runs to the end of June, though Chelsea have indicated that his duties will effectively be concluded once their two-game tour of the US is over, when he would be free to depart with their blessing. Chelsea lost the first of the two games with Manchester City 4-3 in St Louis on Thursday, having led 3-0 a little after the hour-mark, and will play the return fixture in New York on Saturday.Benítez has coached in Italy before, albeit only briefly, having managed Inter for six months in 2010 before his sacking after success in the Fifa Club World Cup.His first task upon his appointment may well prove to be smoothing a swap deal that sees Edinson Cavani depart for Manchester City with Edin Dzeko, scorer of two goals at the Busch Stadium against Chelsea, likely to move in the opposite direction.The Italian club have also been linked with Benítez's former Liverpool charge Lucas Leiva, despite the Brazilian midfielder signing a new long-term contract at Anfield in mid-April.Rafael BenítezChelseaNapoliSerie AEuropean club footballDominic Fifieldguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

I was a big fan of Drew Sheppard’s Gif of Yu Darvish throwing five different pitches. As were some folks in Japan, who inexplicably made that post the most-read thing in the history of HardballTalk. By a wide margin. But I think I’m more impressed by Drew putting Miguel Cabrera‘s last six home runs into… Read more Miguel Cabrera news

An energetic Ratchanok Intanon powered Thailand past Japan 3-1 for their first-ever semi-final spot at the Sudirman Cup World Mixed Team Championships.

Individual investors who piled into hot-performing Japan ETFs this year could end up holding the bag if this week’s Nikkei plunge is the start of something worse. WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity (NYSEArca: DXJ) and iShares MSCI Japan (NYSEArca: EWJ) are the two best-selling ETFs this year, reeling...

Torimi Cafe, a peculiar spot in Japan that serves homemade treats while guests enjoy their meals surrounded by birds, recently rolled out a new feather-friendly flavor: Pet Bird-Flavored Ice Cream.  Because you know, pizza-flavored and ramen-flavored ice cream are so banal by now. The cafe’s new flavors include Cockatiel, Java Sparrow and Parakeet, all which debuted last week at a small bird expo in Osaka. According to the business, the ice cream is made with all-natural ingredients and  “once in your mouth, the aroma of a parakeet would spread intensely.” Oh, but it gets better. According to Torimi Cafe, the Java Sparrow flavor evokes “the feeling of pressing the breast of a java sparrow into your mouth,” while the Cockatiel ice cream emulates that moment  “when you’re sleeping with your mouth open and your cockatiel runs over your face and gets its leg in your mouth.” Happens all the time. And to think I was so naive as to think that this “Pet-Bird” flavored ice cream would taste like chicken. Silly me. H/T + PicThx RocketNews24 The post ‘Pet-Bird’ Flavored Ice Cream is A Real, Edible Thing appeared first on Foodbeast.

Scottish duo Boards Of Canada has been awkwardly titillating the Internet for weeks with silly white-label noise singles, a series of confusing numbers, and general fuckery, but the group finally dropped an honest-to-God single yesterday—albeit by projecting the new video onto a building in Japan. The clip for “Reach For The Dead” is, for all intents and purposes, a Boards Of Canada single, complete with experimental tones and a complete lack of drums for most of the track. According to Shaun McKenna, the Music Editor for The Japan Times, the crowd at the Tokyo video release event didn’t think all that much of the track, with one bystander reportedly yelling “Is that it?” as the video ended. Boards Of Canada’s new record, Tomorrow’s Harvest, is out June 11 in North America.  Read more

The Fed would do well to look at Japan. Japan’s Nikkei, after rallying over 70% since November, just collapsed 11% in less than two days. Looking at the chart, it’s pretty clear where this thing is heading: the same as the NASDAQ in 2000. This is the problem with economic policy that focuses on pushing stocks higher: eventually the collapsing economy comes home to roost and stocks implode. We saw this in 2000 and 2008. We’re currently seeing it in Japan. And it’s only a matter of time before it his the US. Indeed, Bernanke’s whole life work has been based on the belief that the Fed didn’t do enough during the Great Depression. So he’s opted to expand the Fed’s balance sheet to over $3 trillion and to monetize most of the US’s debt issuance via QE to battle the Financial Crisis. Altogether, the Fed has monetized QE equal to 15% or so of the US’s GDP. Doing this has already put stocks back in a bubble and damaged the economy to no end. Marginal debt is back at record highs, housing has not bottomed, and Bernanke is still talking about a “recovery” FIVE years after the Crash. At this point based on the business cycle alone we should be in a roaring growth spurt. QE doesn’t work. It never has. Look at Japan. Japan has monetized an amount equal to well over 25% of its GDP via QE. And at that point its bond market began to crash. It’s not coincidence that the Fed is beginning to talk about tapering QE now that this is happening. Even a career academic can look at what’s going on in Japan and know that more QE won’t help the US. So the Fed is essentially handcuffed at this point. Increasing QE in any way risks a Japan-bond market style rout. Can you imagine what would happen if the financial system faces another Crisis? The Fed has already thrown everything including the kitchen sink at the system. If the system collapses now the Fed will be powerless to stop it. For some insights on how to prepare for a market collapse, visit us at: http://gainspainscapital.com/protect-your-portfolio Best Regards, Graham Summers

click for ginormous chart Source: Kimble Charting Awesome chart from Chris Kimble showing the Nikkei going back to 1982 — in particular, the downtrend that began in 1989 and still persists to this day. Chris notes that Declines of 32% to 60% taken place at this level for the past 20 years! One would normally expect a pullback and consolidation after a long move up to a major trendline, and under pre-Abenomics stimulus, that would be my highest probability outcome (pre-stimulus, I have no idea!). The key here is if and when the Nikkei breaks through that trendline, it is likely the beginning of a longer term multi-year breakout. This is why we put on Japan exposure for clients much earlier this year. ~~~ Disclosure: Clients are long GAL, DXJ, which have substantial exposure to Japan.

McDonald’s is huge in Japan, and it just got bigger with its Mega Potato Fries. IT Media reports (via Kotaku) that McDonald’s is now offering its largest calorie item in the history of the chain with the Mega Potato. It holds the equivalent of two large fries, but at almost half the price. Unfortunately for you McDonald’s french fry fans, the Mega Potato is only available in Japan. You could hop on a plane to grab some, but you have to be fast. The Mega Potato will only be on sale through the end of June. After that, you’ll have to start forking over $6 for two large fries. This isn’t the first time that a fast food restaurant in Japan has offered ridiculously sized meals. For the release of Windows 7, Microsoft teamed up with Burger King to offer a seven-patty whopper. Earlier this year, Japanese restaurant chain Lotteria outdid everybody with a nine-patty cheeseburger to coincide with the release of Evangelion 3.33.

McDonald’s has unleashed its Mega Potato Fries on the citizens of Japan. The fast food item, which is equivalent to two orders of large fries, has more calories than any other item on the menu. According to Japan Today, it’s actually the most caloric item that the restaurant has ever offered. McDonald’s has released some interesting items on its international menu so let’s not call Mega Potato Fries the all-time calorie king but with 1,142 calories crammed into a comically oversized container let’s just say that you should eat at your own risk. Japan Today writes: “The Mega Potato will set you back 490 yen (about $5) and also cost you a large chunk of your dignity and possibly a few years of your life.” McDonald’s Mega Potato Fries have been available at limited locations for the last week and finally got their nationwide release today. The restaurant doesn’t have any plans of bringing the Mega Potato Fries to the United States and judging by the company’s recent moves in America they probably won’t be bringing the high calorie item stateside anytime soon. McDonald’s has been trying to make its menu healthier in America with items like the egg-white McMuffin and a new chicken McWrap. It’s very unlikely that they’ll start offering people 1,142 calories worth of fries anytime soon. Of course, you could just get two supersized fries. Unfortunately, you’ll have to get them in two separate containers. McDonald’s Japan selling “Mega Potato” French friesshar.es/Z8yCsSupersize my Supersize! #cspnet twitter.com/glcspdn/status… — Greg Lindenberg (@glcspdn) May 24, 2013 McDonald’s Unleashes Mega Potato Fries On Japan is a post from: The Inquisitr