"The backbone for LidRock® is one particularly cool piece of technology that morphs something ordinary -- a fountain drink lid -- into something extraordinary -- a way to bring the latest music, video, and games directly to people who want it. The drink lid actually functions as a case for a mini CD or DVD disc.

Exhorting residents to slim down in the year ahead, the city government here has mapped out 'The Great Citizens Campaign to Lose Three Kilograms.'

'This was the most delicious food I had ever eaten,' Kei Sunakawa, 51, said, his eyes bulging at the memory of eating at a McDonald's here for the first time. 'It was always a fun place, always filled with people.'

Mr. Sunakawa walked into a McDonald's in the Makiminato area the other afternoon. Standing pensively before the counter, his white polo shirt stretched over a belly that obstructed his view of his toes, he finally ordered a Big Mac, Fish McDippers and a medium oolong tea.