The season of Tukimi Burger has come! Please try it in McDonald's in Japan. :-) It is very easy to find McDonald's in Japan, I feel I see it at every station, on every street corner? he he he. It means that for foreign restaurant and fast food chains, Japan is good market? No, never. Maybe successful foreign restaurants and fast food chains are McDonald's, KFC and maybe Starbucks. That is all. You like Wendy's? Yes we have, but it is very hard to find where it is, Wendy's hass 90 shops in Japan, on the other hand, McDonald's has over 3800 shops.
You see Denny's very often in Japan? Yes we have it, but a Japanese company bought their trademark, so it is a different "Denny's" who has the logo. Actually they have a unique Japanese menu, look! This morning set. My American friend said he misses Burger King.
Well we had it before, I remember Burger King was near my job, but they had to leave Japan. Denny's have a Japanese menu, and Seven Eleven Japan has variety of rice balls and Obento, but basically fast food like hamburgers could not be more than a snack in Japan. Couples will eat lunch at McDonalds while dating, a young businessmen may have his dinner at Wendy's, our food life is changing to western style exponentially. But my dad and mom, I and my friends won't go fast food place for a dinner, that is true too. So even though they have good taste, good price, good location, they aren't enough to promise their success in Japan. So why McDonald's and KFC were accepted? Maybe it will a kind of "brain-washing" :-)! Yes a huge number of TV commercials and promotions they made.
Burger King joined in a project with Seibu Shoji first, and joined with JT later. However JT needed investment funds to buy a foreign tobacco company and also UK Burger King did not participate actively and positively for the project, they did not take risk for red and big promotions. Then finally they decided to stop service in Japan. I read like that.
It is not so easy to have business here in Japan, but I like Tacos. I hope Taco Bell tries to come to Japan. Last week I had a Taco party, my friends all love Tacos. Here is a market! (maybe) Taco Bell, Come on!
There hasn't been a regular Taco Bell in Japan in over 15 years. Yum! Brands still currently does not have any plans to open one again either. There IS a Taco Bell on the Yokota Air Base.
Too bad Wendy's just closed all 71 of its restaurants in Japan a couple of weeks ago. Perhaps someone else will pick up the franchise deal.
Posted by: Frank Weilderkrankler | Wednesday, January 13, 2010 at 05:19 AM
I live in the US and am doing a school project on Starbucks Japan. I am looking for a Japan TV commercial. Do you know of a web-address that I can download for the school project? Thank you for your help!
Have a good day!
Posted by: amy@medaille | Thursday, January 19, 2006 at 08:59 AM
My friends and I are here in Nagoya, Japan, studying for the year. A couple of them are dying for Taco Bell, and since you mention that "there is a taco bell in nagoya, has been there for over 15 years" would you be able to email me the directions? Thank you for your time~
Posted by: Nathalie | Thursday, December 08, 2005 at 07:06 PM
there is a taco bell in nagoya, has been there for over 15 years
Posted by: me | Thursday, October 27, 2005 at 02:11 AM
Hi there
Hmm sounds like all fast food chain in the world have some trouble. Well I like tacos bell, but actually i will eat once three months when it comes...
Salsa Cabana in Yotusya?? Wow Okay I will try. Thank you Kirk
Posted by: Mari | Tuesday, October 04, 2005 at 08:39 AM
Hi Mari
You should try Salsa Cabana in Yotusya. They have good Mexican food and it is not too expensive. But it is not fast food...
Posted by: Kirk | Saturday, October 01, 2005 at 07:27 PM
Stop supporting these companies!
TOKYO — McDonald's Holdings Co (Japan) said Friday it has cut its group net profit projection for 2005 by nearly 99% from its earlier estimate, due largely to extraordinary losses related to costs for correcting insufficient past payments to its part-time and regular workers.
The company said it will pay 2.2 billion yen in unpaid wages to over 100,000 workers, re
troactive to August 2003...
(From Japan Today 2005-10-01)
Posted by: Martin ;) | Saturday, October 01, 2005 at 12:49 PM
Hi There
One Taco shell(hard taco 12 sheets ) is 900yen or so in Japan. But when I eat Mexican at restaurant, every meal is over 1000yen. I don't know why they set price like that. Maybe there are nice Mexican restaurant in the U.S. But Taco Bell is enough. I hope they come.
Posted by: Mari | Friday, September 30, 2005 at 08:16 PM
I love Mexican food! But I do not know if taco bell would be the best introduction, it is more like mexican food you eat when you haev been drinking all night.
Then again, maybe that would work in Tokyo.
Posted by: Kirk | Friday, September 30, 2005 at 07:22 PM
I love Wendy's - but there are too few of them in Japan!!! They simply have the best burgers. I would also love for Taco Bell to start up in Japan, but I don't know if they would be successful.
One restaurant (almost fast food) I really really miss is "Johnny Rockets" which was located close to Roppongi Crossing (now there's a Jonathan's there). If you ever been there you know why I miss it. It was a like a 50's style American diner with great milkshakes and hamburgers.
Posted by: Johan | Friday, September 30, 2005 at 09:59 AM
I was embarassed to go to Denny's for the first time in Japan until I discovered the morning set -- with natto! Then I was in heaven. It was good and cheap and I ate there almost every morning for a while. I really like to have Japanese breakfast in Japan; my Japanese friends think this is funny, but it is my favorite kind of breakfast!
Posted by: Marie | Friday, September 30, 2005 at 12:41 AM
Burger King in trouble in Britain, beacuse the ice cream "swirl" represented on the lid resembled the symbol of Allah:
http://www.occidentalism.org/?p=79
(Funny in a sad kind of way!)
Oh, I like tacos too!!
Posted by: Martin | Thursday, September 29, 2005 at 08:57 AM
The Japanese shop's here, according to my GF, americanize the Japanese food as well.
Hope you are well.
Posted by: Lumpy | Thursday, September 29, 2005 at 02:30 AM
I simply love this blog.
Posted by: Margaret Pearce | Thursday, September 29, 2005 at 01:34 AM
personally, the only way to my heart is tacos.
i love tacos. but i don't like Taco Bell.
i buy soy/vegetable crumblers (it's like cooked ground beef), throw taco powder over it, heat it up, stick it in a shell, throw on some MONTEREY jack cheese. couple spoonfuls of salsa.
roll up the shell.
my family thinks i'm crazy because i eat tacos all the time. i'm also lucky to live in a town with great ethnic food, so there's a fantastic mexican food shop with great tacos. i stop in for lunch all the time, from work.
mmm
Posted by: I am Dali | Thursday, September 29, 2005 at 12:52 AM
Taco Bell is good stuff. It's affordable and great for late night snacking...
Posted by: abraxis | Thursday, September 29, 2005 at 12:17 AM