Japan was McDonald's first international market in Asia, opening its first restaurant in 1971.
The Japanese business was established through a partnership involving Den Fujita and McDonald's. Its first restaurant opened in Tokyo's Ginza district, placing the brand in one of Japan's best-known commercial areas.
Japan became especially significant to McDonald's branding because it showed how the company could retain its core identity while adjusting language, advertising, menu presentation, and operations for a local audience. The Japanese business later became one of the company's largest outside the United States.
Hong Kong opened in 1975, Singapore in 1979, and South Korea in 1988. Those later dates are why they should not be confused with Japan's earlier entry.