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Tokyo customers camp out for 1st Taco Bell since the 1980s

Taco Bell, opening for the first time in Tokyo since the 1980s, saw customers camped out in front of the store overnight for a chance at a free T-shirt and tacos when the doors opened at 10 a.m.

May 1, 2015

Taco Bell, opening for the first time in Tokyo since the 1980s, saw customers camped out in front of the store overnight for a chance at a free T-shirt and tacos when the doors opened at 10 a.m., according to the Wall Street Journal.

The company, owned by Kentucky-based Yum! Brands Inc., partnered with Asrapport Dining Co., to revive the business. By the afternoon, guests lined up for as much as three hours to try the chain's food.

However, the chain isn't quite the same in Tokyo as it is in the U.S., a strategic marketing move to provoke more interest from the Japanese, according to Shinichi Abe, of Asrapport's marketing department: "We knew that Taco Bell didn’t fare so well in Japan the first time around, but we think we can give it a better go with a slightly upscale feel for our restaurant," Abe said in the article.

In the Dogenzaka district of the city, Taco Bell's interior consists of dark mahogany-colored walls with room for more than 100 patrons, the article said. Though the store carries signature items, the Tokyo branch added a shrimp and avocado burrito flavored with wasabi.