McDonald's opened its first restaurant in Japan in 1971, marking a major international branding expansion.
The first Japanese McDonald's opened in Tokyo's Ginza district on July 20, 1971. The location placed the American fast-food brand in a prominent commercial area and helped introduce McDonald's visual identity, menu format, and service model to a new national market.
Den Fujita played a central role in bringing McDonald's to Japan through a partnership with the company. Japanese McDonald's later developed localized menu items and marketing while retaining core global elements such as the Golden Arches and the McDonald's name.
The Japan opening is sometimes confused with the chain's first international restaurant overall. McDonald's had already expanded into other countries, including Canada, before 1971. Japan was nevertheless a particularly important Asian market and became one of the company's most influential international operations.