McDonald’s Japan ‘American Vintage’ Series

McDonald’s Japan this week launched the first of their new menu series called American Vintage. The series features three campaigns that represent a different decade of American culture designed to create a feeling of nostalgia. It is a trip back in time through the 1950s, 70s and 80s. McDonald’s Japan has created this menu to sum up American culture, and classic American food from the past.

The first in the series is the 1950s American Diner, which went on sale across Japan on January 7th. It features the Diner Double Beef with Chicago-style steak sauce and mashed potatoes, as well as the Diner Honey Mustard with honey, mustard, bacon, cheddar cheese and lettuce. They have also jazzed up their standard fries with Classic Fries with Cheese, served with a sprinkle of bacon flavoured topping.

Diner Double Beef

Diner Honey Mustard

Classic Fries with Cheese

Next is the 1970s Soul Food, which will be available from the end of January to mid-February. It will feature the Hot & Groovy Beef and Hot & Groovy Chicken. The burgers are both topped with a Hot & Groovy salsa sauce. I guess the 70s was a Hot & Groovy time! Maybe they could get Austin Powers to promote these.

Last is the 1980s Pop Culture, which will be available from mid-February to early March. It will feature the American BBQ Beef and American BBQ Chicken.

McDonald's Japan 'American Vintage' Future Series Poster

McDonald’s have created some wonderful old time posters for the American Vintage campaign.

McDonald's Japan 'American Vintage' 1950s Burger Poster

McDonald's Japan 'American Vintage' 1950s Classic Fries with Cheese Poster

As always, they will be limited edition, so hurry in while you still can.

McDonald’s Japan Website

2013 Year in Review

Japan Australia had another fantastic year in 2013. We recently celebrated our 4th Anniversary. Happy Birthday to us! This post also marks our 500th post! Wow! We never thought we’d make it this far! With the new year 2014 upon us, Happy New Year! It’s time to look at the Top 5 Most Popular Posts of 2013. Not surprisingly, popular themes were food, matcha and cherry blossoms.

Without further to do here are the Most Popular Posts of 2013 in order from 5 to 1.

#5 Premium Quarter Pounders at McDonald’s Japan 

Published on July 5th this post and campaign featuring famous Japanese soccer player Keisuke Honda (AC Milan) was a popular one. The limited edition burgers included the Quarter Pounder BLT and its spicy partner in crime the Quarter Pounder Habanero Tomato.


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#4 McDonald’s Texas Burger 2013 

Published on February 2nd this was the comeback of the Texas Burger and it proved to be a popular post. The burger made its original debut back in 2010 as a member of the Big America series. It was released in its ALL STAR form to bring the crowds back to McDonald’s Japan.


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#3 Meet the Snow Monkeys of Japan 

Published on March 9th this was our most popular guest post of the year. The small town of Yudanaka situated deep in the Japan Alps with its hot steaming natural hot springs is the place you will find these wonderful animals. Definitely a must see in Japan and one of my highlights here so far.

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#2 Matcha Green Tea Kit Kat 

Published on May 19th this post clearly shows the popularity of both matcha and Kit Kat. 2013 was definitely the year of matcha snacks in Japan and we had such a large range of different ones to choose from. We liked this version of Matcha Kit Kat as it was made for adults with a less sweet flavour than the regular version.

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#1 Best Spots for Cherry Blossoms in Gifu / Aichi 

Published on March 20th this was the most popular post for 2013 by a large margin. Cherry Blossoms are always a popular theme and this post highlighted some of the best spots in our local area to see them. We are lucky to have so many great spots in Gifu and Aichi to see them ranging from castles and parks to rivers and ancient trees.




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Have a great 2014 everyone and thank you for continuing to support Japan Australia.

Hatsumode ~ First Shrine Visit of the New Year

Happy New Year everyone from all of us here at Japan Australia! Today, January 2nd, we paid our first shrine visit of the New Year 2014. This custom is called hatsumode (初詣) in Japanese. It is tradition in Japan to visit a shrine or temple during the first few days of the New Year, usually January 1st, 2nd or 3rd. The main purpose of the visit is to pray for health, happiness and success.

We visited Inaba Jinja, which is the biggest and most famous shrine in Gifu City. Inaba Jinja or Inaba Shrine (伊奈波神社) was founded in 85 AD, so has a history of over 1900 years. It is a pretty special place to welcome in the New Year or visit for hatsumode.

Inaba Shrine in Gifu City

The crowds weren't too bad for New Year’s and we managed to do everything we wanted to do in around 90 minutes. The shrine had a fun festival atmosphere about it with the street vendors out in force, selling all kinds of Japanese festival food. The people around us were in a great festive mode as well and everyone was polite while paying their respects for hatsumode.

Street Vendors at Inaba Shrine

Here are some of the common customs done at hatsumode:

Osaisen 

Upon reaching the main shrine, a common custom is osaisen (賽銭), which is money offered to the gods for good luck. Simply throw a small coin like a 5 or 10 yen coin (5 yen is best) into the saisen-bako (賽銭箱) donation box, bow twice, clap twice, then pray to the gods for a happy and prosperous New Year. 

Osaisen at the main shrine

Omikuji 

Another common custom for hatsumode is to buy an omikuji, which is a fortune written on a small piece of paper. These cost 100 yen and can be purchased from many different locations around the shrine. There are typically twelve different kinds of fortune you can receive, but don’t worry! If your omikuji predicts bad luck, simply tie it onto the special rack or tree on the shrine grounds. This will ensure that the prediction will not come true. This year, I received Dai-kichi (大吉) ~ Great Blessing, which is the luckiest omikuji you can receive. Yatta!

Omikuji at Inaba Shrine

Yatta! I was lucky to get Dai-kichi ~ Great Blessing!

Hamaya 

A popular item sold during the New Year at Shinto shrines is a hamaya. It is a special good luck charm that is traditionally only available during the first few days of the year. A hamaya is basically a decorative wooden arrow sold at shrines to ward off misfortune and attract good luck. They are sometimes called “demon-breaking arrows”. Each shrine has its own unique design and they make a very cool decoration for your genkan (entrance at home) or souvenir. Traditionally, the custom was to place the hamaya at the north-east and south-west corners of the house, which were the most susceptible to evil influences. This year is the Year of the Horse, so hamaya will feature an ema with a horse.

Hamaya at Inaba Shrine

Amazake 

Amazake (甘酒) is a traditional sweet Japanese sake usually drunk to celebrate a special occasion such as the New Year. We finished off our hatsumode visit to Inaba Shrine with a cup of steaming hot amazake by the bon-fire. It was a great visit and we hope that 2014 will be a great year for Japan Australia and all our friends and followers.

Welcome to the New Year at Inaba Shrine

Hatsumode at Inaba Shrine in Gifu 

New Year’s in Japan 2013

New Year’s or oshogatsu (正月) in Japanese is one of the most important holidays on the calendar in Japan. It is a time to look back to the past and follow the traditional customs of the festive season. Most people will return home to spend the time together with their families, kind of like Christmas in the West. It is also a popular tradition to visit a temple or shrine at midnight on December 31st, as Buddhist temples all around Japan ring their bells a total of 108 times to symbolize the 108 human sins in Buddhist belief and to get rid of the 108 worldly desires.

January 1st or New Year’s Day is a very fortunate day in Japan. It is meant to be full of joy and happiness with no stress or anxiety. Everything should be clean and you should not work on this day. A popular custom is to watch the first sunrise of the New Year (初日), which is meant to guarantee good luck for the New Year. It is tradition to visit a shrine or temple during oshogatsu for hatsumode, the first visit of the New Year. The bigger more popular shrines and temples are extremely crowded with people praying for health and happiness. We usually visit Inaba Jinja, which is the most famous shrine in Gifu City.

Here are some traditions and customs that are followed during New Year’s in Japan

Shimekazari 

Shimekazari (しめ飾り) is a traditional New Year’s decoration made out of sacred Shinto rice straw rope, pine twigs, and carefully crafted zigzag-shaped paper strips called shide. Shimekazari is usually hung on the front door, and is used to keep bad spirits away as well as inviting the toshigami (歳神) or Shinto deity to visit. Unlike Christmas decorations which are usually packed up and used the following year, New Year's decorations must be new as they symbolize a brand new start and a move away from the past. It is good luck to hang up the shimekazari straight after Christmas, but no longer than after the 28th of December. It is custom to remove the shimekazari on either January 7th or after the 15th, depending on which area of Japan you live.

Shimekazari

Kagami Mochi 

Kagami Mochi (鏡餅) is another traditional decoration that consists of two round mochi (rice cakes). The smaller rice cake is placed on top of the larger one with a daidai (bitter orange) on top. The two mochi represent the past year and the year ahead with the daidai, which means “generations” in Japanese representing the continuation of a family from one generation to the next. These days you can buy a modern version with the zodiac sign for the coming year on top instead of the bitter orange. 2014 was the year of the horse, with 2015 being the year of the sheep.

Kagami Mochi

Mochibana 

Mochibana (餅花) is a popular New Year’s decoration that consists of branches decorated with pieces of white and pink mochi. They look like flowering branches of the blossoms in spring, and signal the coming of spring ahead in Japan.

Nengajo 

Nengajo (年賀状) is a  Japanese custom of sending a New Year’s Day Card to friends and relatives. It is very similar to our custom of sending Christmas Cards. Japanese people send these so that they arrive on January 1st. It is common to feature the zodiac sign for the coming year on the card.

Toshikoshi Soba 

Toshikoshi Soba (年越しそば) is buckwheat noodles that are eaten on New Year’s Eve and symbolise longevity. It is believed that by eating these long thin noodles you will live a long and healthy life. Toshikoshi means the ending of the old year, and the beginning of the new one. It has become a modern tradition to eat toshikoshi soba while watching TV on New Year’s Eve, with the music competition Kohaku Uta Gassen (紅白歌合戦) the most popular show. To ensure good luck, all the noodles must be polished off before midnight.

Toshikoshi Soba

 Hatsumode 

Hatsumode (初詣) is the first shrine visit of the New Year to pray for health, happiness and prosperity for the coming year. Most people will make their visit on the first, second, or third day of the year. A common custom is to buy an omikuji, which is a fortune written on a small piece of paper. If the omikuji predicts bad luck, you can tie it onto a tree on the shrine grounds, in order for the prediction not to come true.

Hatsumode at Inaba Jinja in Gifu City

Osechi Ryori 

Osechi Ryori (御節料理) is traditional Japanese dishes served during New Year celebrations. The tradition started in the Heian Period (794-1185) with each dish having a special meaning. Osechi ryori is served in special boxes called jubako (重箱) and contain food such as konbu (boiled seaweed), kamaboko (fish cakes), kinpira gobo (burdock root), and kuromame (sweetened black beans).

Osechi Ryori

Ozoni 

Ozoni (お雑煮) is a soup made with mochi (rice cakes) traditionally served on New Year’s Day. Our family usually has ozoni for breakfast on New Year’s Day. Ozoni varies from region to region and from household to household.

Ozoni

Otoshidama 

Otoshidama (お年玉) is special money given to children on New Year’s Day. It is handed out in small decorated envelopes by family and relatives. The amount varies depending on the age of the child, but typically will be either ¥5,000 (USD$50) or ¥10,000 (USD$100).

Mochi 

Mochi (餅) a favourite custom is creating mochi or soft rice cakes from boiled sticky rice. This is called mochitsuki (餅つき) and is usually made before New Year’s Day and eaten during the start of New Year’s in January. 

Hope you have a great New Year's wherever you are in the world!

Kadomatsu

McDonald's Japan Winter Menu

McDonalds Japan has put on a tasty selection of winter menu items to get us through the colder months in Japan. The menu items feature cheese, which is always popular in winter. Back in the summer Japan Australia wrote about some new summer items to the McDonald's menu, now its winter's turn and you can read all about them below.

White Cheddar Series 

The White Cheddar Series includes the Quarter Pounder and Chicken Fileo. The burgers have replaced the usual cheese with white cheddar cheese. The White Cheddar Quarter Pounder features extra rich white cheddar cheese, grilled bacon, mustard and is topped with a roasted onion sauce. It went on sale December 11th. The White Cheddar Chicken Fileo features the new crispy chicken breast as well as two slices of the extra rich white cheddar cheese, sliced onions, two pieces of bacon and mustard. It went on sale December 15th.

White Cheddar Quarter Pounder

White Cheddar Chicken Fileo

Cheese Potato Dip 

The Cheese Potato Dip is a snack consisting of shredded mozzarella cheese and cheddar cheese, mixed with potato. The mixture is shaped into balls that are deep fried to a golden brown. The Cheese Potato Dip is served with an Arrabbiata dipping sauce, which adds a boost to the flavour. Arrabbiata is an Italian spicy sauce made from garlic, tomatoes, and red chili peppers. The Cheese Potato Dip costs 150 yen (USD$1.50) for five pieces and went on sale December 11th.

Cheese Potato Dip

The Taste Test

Japan Australia wandered down to our local McDonald's to see what all the fuss was about. We ordered a White Cheddar Quarter Pounder set with a side of Cheese Potato Dip. The White Cheddar Quarter Pounder was really tasty and we would definitely order this again from the menu. We are already fans of the classic Quarter Pounder, but this took it to a higher level with a great full flavour cheese and roasted onion sauce. In fact, the roasted onion sauce kind of reminded us of a chutney from back home. The Cheese Potato Dip has a great texture with a crisp crunchy outside and soft fluffy cheesy inside. The actual flavour was quite bland on its own and it really did need the extra boast of the Arrabbiata sauce which was full of flavour.

White Cheddar Quarter Pounder Set

The White Cheddar Quarter Pounder ready to be opened up

A look at the White Cheddar Quarter Pounder

Cheese Potato Dip with Arrabbiata Sauce

Crispy & Cheesy Cheese Potato Dip

There you go! If you are in Japan this winter and want to give something new a try, check these out.

McDonald's Japan Website

White Cheddar Series

Christmas in Japan 2013

Christmas is just around the corner, so I thought I’d talk a little about Christmas here in Japan. Christmas is not a national holiday like it is back home in Australia, but is just a regular working day. It is a romantic time for couples, kind of like a second Valentine’s Day, rather than a time to spend with your family. Christmas Eve, rather than Christmas Day is the special day in Japan. It is a time for couples to go out on a romantic dinner date and exchange gifts. Restaurants and hotels are usually fully booked out during this time. Christmas Eve is celebrated with a fancy Christmas cake. The cake is not a rich fruit cake like we have in the west, but a sponge cake covered in whipped cream and topped with strawberries.

Christmas food in Japan includes traditional KFC Christmas Chicken Dinner. Kentucky Fried Chicken has become synonymous with Christmas in Japan since they launched their advertising campaign in the 1970s. You will usually see the Colonel dressed up in Santa gear around this time. There are long lines at KFC on Christmas Day and many people pre-order their Christmas feast well in advance to avoid missing out. It is estimated that 1 in 3 Japanese adults will eat fried chicken this Christmas!

KFC Japan Website

The Colonel dressed as Santa Claus for Christmas 

The retail stores and shopping malls scattered all around Japan have been the most enthusiastic about Christmas, with large Christmas trees, Santa Clauses and seasonal decorations out in force several weeks or months in advance. This year the decorations came out the day after Halloween!

Christmas decorations in Japan

Christmas Tree in Shopping Mall

Christmas was first celebrated in Japan during the Sengoku Period, also known as the Warring States Period, in the 16th Century. It was during this time that a missionary, Francis Xavier introduced Christianity to Japan. The modern celebration of Christmas in Japan first started around 1900 during the Meiji Restoration when Japan opened up to the West after a long period of isolation. Japanese Christmas Cake first hit the streets in the 1920s at department stores in Ginza, Tokyo. As mention above, KFC started their Christmas Fried Chicken marketing campaign in the 1970s and the rest is history.

Over the last few years, more and more people are starting to celebrate Christmas like we do in the west. They are taking up traditions such as decorating their home, exchanging gifts and having a nice Christmas dinner. The Winter Illuminations have become a big deal during this time with magical displays put on by several places. They are popular with couples out on a romantic date as well as families.

Winter Illuminations at Nabana no Sato

How to spend a Festive Christmas in Japan like back home 

There are several places in Gifu/Nagoya, my home in Japan that have the goodies you need to make a Festive Christmas just like at home.

Kaldi Coffee Farm located in most of the big malls in Gifu such as Morela, Masa21, Aeon Mall Kakamigahara and Aeon Mall Kisogawa. They have a lot of different imported food such as chocolate, candy, shortbread and snacks for those Christmas stockings.

Plant6 in Ogaki has a range of cheeses, party foods, snacks, cookies and meats.

Amika in Akenabe-cho and Masaki in Gifu has a large range of frozen meats including whole chickens. 

FrancFranc in Morela, Gifu & Nagoya Parco has lots of different Christmas decorations as well as Tokyu Hands in Takashimiya Nagoya.

Loft in Gifu City and Sakae Nagoya also has lots of Christmas decorations, Christmas trees & lights and stationary like Christmas cards.

Meidi-ya in Sakae, Nagoya specialises in foreign food and has a range of Christmas goodies.

Seijyo-ishi in Meieki, Nagoya is a foreign food supermarket with a good selection of foreign food.

Kaldi Coffee Farm

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Japan have also released a range of Christmas themed doughnuts to light up the festive season. They include Snowman Chocolate, Pistachio Wreath and Stollen Ring. You can pick up a Santa Claus Dozen that features the above doughnuts as well as a special Santa Cheesecake Doughnut for 2000 yen.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Japan

Krispy Kreme Santa Claus Dozen

Wherever you are in the World, the team here at Japan Australia would like to wish you a Merry Christmas!