When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in .

You've reached your limit of one free article.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime .

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Exclusive International news coverage

Ad-free experience NEW

Weekly digital Magazine NEW

9 daily & weekly Newsletters

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Free trial

30-days free access, then $2.90
per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
Japan

Wind Shakes World's Tallest Structure On Opening Day In Tokyo

JAPAN TIMES (Japan)

TOKYO - While some might have been worrying about earthquakes, the world's largest tower has opened safely in the Japanese capital. Still, the first day was not all stable at the structure, dubbed Tokyo Skytree, as high winds forced two elevators to shut down around 6 p.m., stranding visitors in the No. 2 observatory, 450 meters above the ground, the Japan Times reported.

A total of 200,000 people were expected on the first day alone to visit Tokyo Skytree Town, the complex in which the tower stands in Sumida Ward.

The tower includes Skytree Town, a commercial complex combining the 634-meter-tall broadcast tower, an aquarium, a planetarium and the Tokyo Solamachi complex, which boasts 312 shops and restaurants.

Read the full story

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

food / travel

Italian Coffee, Full Circle: Starbucks Marks Five Years In Italy

It has been five years since Starbucks first opened in Milan, where the company's CEO first got the idea that the world wanted quality coffee. Today they set their sights not on retreat but expansion. The path ahead in this mecca for "caffé" for the Seattle-based coffee shop is a rosy one.

A photograph of customers and staff inside of the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Milan

October 3, 2019: Customers line up to order drinks at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Milan

Mychelle Vincent/ZUMA
Nicola Grolla

MILAN — It's been five years since Starbucks' debut in Italy, and there is still a line to enter the Reserve Roastery. Inside the former Post Office building in Milan, the brand is celebrating an important anniversary, which tastes like 100% Arabica coffee, and a bet won: they have managed to sell coffee to Italians. Not just any coffee, but a flat white.

This is perhaps the greatest achievement in the company's partnership with the Percassi Group, which is responsible for developing a network that will reach 37 or 38 stores by the end of the year (the next eagerly awaited stop: Naples).

✉️ You can receive our Bon Vivant selection of fresh reads on international culture, food & travel directly in your inbox. Subscribe here.

In the meantime, to celebrate, a rich schedule of events has kicked off (until Oct. 1st). On the program are tastings, workshops, blues concerts and events during Milan Fashion Week. It's all organized to give an idea of the connection achieved between Italy and the American brand.

Keep reading...Show less

The latest