The Return of the King

After hiding out for over 5 years from the Japanese burger landscape, the American hamburger chain Burger King has recently returned. On Friday, June 8th, throngs of loyal subjects waited in line for 30-50 minutes to get a taste of the flame-broiled whopper at the new store in Nishi-Shinjuku.

This is the chain's second shot at the Japanese market. Back in 2001, BK left the Japanese market citing the reason that they could not offer an inexpensive menu back then to compete with the cheap fast food trend going on at the time. Times have changed however and with the rise of "gourmet" (expensive) burger joints popping up everywhere and the Japanese economy looking better, they are ready to claim their throne. The Japanese Burger King chain is now aiming for the "better" burger market going head-to-head with other higher-end Japanese burger establishments such as Freshness Burger and MOS Burger; instead of playing against the cheaper burger places like Lotteria, First Kitchen and McDonalds. (On an interesting note, Lotte the company that owns Lotteria will now manage the Burger King chains here in Japan.)

On Friday, the opening day, I went to BK hungry for a Whopper but upon seeing the line, decided to visit another day. Judging from the push from mass media these past couple days regarding the return of BK, I have a feeling the lines may not die down for a while.