Japan opened McDonald’s first restaurant in Asia in 1971.
McDonald’s entered Japan through a partnership involving Den Fujita, the founder of the Japanese retail company Fujita & Co. The first Japanese McDonald’s opened in Tokyo’s Ginza district in July 1971. Its location in a major shopping area gave the brand an unusually visible introduction to Japanese consumers.
The Japanese business adapted McDonald’s international identity to local conditions while retaining recognizable elements such as the Golden Arches, standardized service, and core menu branding. Japan later became one of McDonald’s largest markets outside the United States.
This milestone is sometimes confused with McDonald’s first Asian locations in other territories or with its first international restaurant in Canada, which opened in 1967. Japan was the company’s first national market in Asia, making the 1971 opening an important step in the brand’s global expansion.