16 August 2022 |

S2 E9: How McDonald’s said Kon’nichiwa to Japan

By The Wolf

When McDonald’s CEO Ray Kroc arrived in Tokyo three days before the grand opening of their first international franchise in Japan, he was shocked to see that construction had not yet begun on the restaurant.

Enter Japanese businessman Den Fujita. After buying the rights to bring McDonald’s to the Land of the Rising Sun, and with no existing blueprint for international success with McDonald’s, Den had to invent the playbook for Japan.

Join The Wolf for the incredible story of how Den was able to construct and open the first international McDonald’s within 36 hours, then go on to become the third largest international stage for the McDonald’s franchise.

And if you’ve enjoyed listening to Franchise Empires, I’d be so grateful if you could drop me a 5-star review on Rate My Podcast. Thank you so much!

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