McDonald’s Japan is teaming up with iconic Japanese actor and singer Takuya Kimura, also known as Kimutaku, once again following their collaboration with him in 2020. The star is featuring in a new commercial and campaign by McDonald’s that centres on rediscovering the value and taste of the fast food chain.

The first in a series of commercials hit Japanese televisions on Tuesday (January 12) for McDonald’s Japan’s revamped hot and iced Cafe Lattes. The second commercial will be released next Tuesday (January 19) for the Yakkii grilled ginger burger. The ¥200 burger is arriving on the menu at McDonald’s Japan the following day on Wednesday.

McDonald’s Japan is bringing back its popular Belgian Chocolate Pie from last year and is also introducing a new Crème Brûlée Pie, both of which will hit the menu at all McDonald’s branches from January 13 for a limited time.

Crème Brûlée Pie | ¥150 (Before Tax)

Belgian Chocolate Pie | ¥150 (Before Tax)

The hot pies are filled with deliciously sweet cream and are a perfect, cosy treat during the cold weather.

Nana’s Green Tea is serving up a brand-new dessert in collaboration with Häagen-Dazs for Valentine’s Day at 77 branches in Japan. The dessert was released on January 6 and will be available up to February 14.

Matcha Chocolate Glass with Häagen-Dazs | ¥880 (Before Tax)

The dessert is a tempting sight to behold – not only is it delicious but visually appealing to the eye too, and layered with various textures so that every bite is a surprise.

The dessert is made with Häagen-Dazs’ “Sweet Chocolate” ice cream coupled with Nana’s Green Tea’s own original matcha ice cream, soft and crunchy meringue sticks, crumbled cookies, white chocolate whipped cream, and matcha chiffon cake. Sat at the bottom waiting to be discovered is a sweet strawberry sauce for a tangy kick.

Saryo FUKUCHA in Kyoto is now serving up a very special selection of succulent strawberry and matcha parfaits until May 30, 2021. These exquisite delights will see only 10 made of each per day.

Saryo FUKUCHA is a cafe that was opened by FUKUJUEN in Kyoto Station in April 2019. This year, they have brought back their extremely popular strawberry and matcha parfaits : the Konome, Konoha, and Konoka. They have also introduced a new addition to the line-up: the Strawberry & Matcha Milk Parfait. Also on the menu is a strawberry matcha latte.

Matcha & Strawberry Parfaits

Konome | ¥1,350

Konoha | ¥1,450

Konoka | ¥1,550

Strawberry Matcha Milk Parfait | ¥800

Strawberry Matcha Latte | ¥650

Discover the taste of Japanese tea in a new way with Saryo FUKUCHA’s matcha and strawberry parfaits and latte.

McDonald’s Japan is set to celebrate the New Year with a series of 3 white chocolate strawberry beverages at McCafé by Barista up and down Japan starting on January 6, 2021.

White Chocolate Strawberry Frappe | Regular Size ¥490

The White Chocolate Strawberry Frappe is made with a milk base laced with a strawberry sauce made from fresh strawberries and is topped with fresh cream, a drizzle of that sweet sauce, and white chocolate shavings. Enjoy a silky combination of sweetness and refreshing flavour.

White Chocolate Strawberry Latte | Regular Size ¥390

Similar to the frappe, the latte variant is a hot strawberry milk made from strawberry sauce, strawberry syrup, and refreshing milk. It’s topped with whipped cream, more sauce, and white chocolate shavings. And don’t worry if you’re not a coffee drinker as this drink contains no coffee – it’s just pure strawberry heaven.

Iced White Chocolate Strawberry Latte | Regular Size ¥490

A refreshing twist on the hot latte. It contains the same ingredients but is served iced instead.

McDonald’s Japan is collaborating with the camping and outdoor brand Coleman to release fukubukuro lucky bags for the New Year in limited quantities.

McDonald’s Fukubukuro 2021 | ¥3,000 (Tax Included)

Those in Japan can sign up to enter a lottery to win one of the bags up until December 22, 2020 at 23:59 (JST).

Tote Bag / Square Pouch / Mug

Fries Clock / McDonald’s Voucher

The lucky bags include a variety of merchandise combining McDonald’s and Coleman designs as well as an alarm clock, a McDonald’s voucher priced at ¥3,160, and more.

Gold McCard | ¥500

One in every ten lucky bags also contains a Gold McCard voucher worth ¥500 too.

Tully’s Coffee Japan is adding a new seasonal drink to its menu on December 26: the “Brown Sugar Syrup & Soy Flour Matcha Latte.”

Brown Sugar Syrup & Soy Flour Matcha Latte (Hot/Iced) | Tall ¥520 (Before Tax)

Matcha beverages at Tully’s Coffee are all made with Uji matcha from Kyoto. The powder is prepared in-house at Tully’s Coffee, ensuring that the original taste and fragrance of the matcha is fresh. Their new seasonal beverage takes their classic Uji Matcha Latte and sweetens it with brown sugar syrup and Hokkaido soy flour.

Brown Sugar Syrup & Soy Flour Matcha Suwakuru® (Frozen) | Tall ¥540, with tapioca +¥100 (Before Tax)

Adding tapioca pearls creates a perfect combination with the syrup and soy flour, creating a taste and texture that’s like the traditional Japanese confection warabimochi.

Uji Matcha Kouign-amann | ¥290 (Before Tax)

Tully’s Coffee is also baking up some seasonal treats, like a Japanese-style Kouign-amann and red bean paste-filled doughnuts.

Milk Red Bean Paste Doughnuts | ¥300 (Before Tax)

The doughnuts are also made with milk from Hokkaido.

2021 Year of the Ox Mug | ¥1,500 (Before Tax)

And to celebrate the upcoming Year of the Ox, the coffee chain is also rolling out a cute ox-themed mug.

The Gurakoro Burger is a seasonal item added to McDonald’s Japan’s winter menu every year. This year, they are releasing a new rich beef stew flavour on December 2 for a limited period.

“Gurakoro” is a portmanteau of the Japanese words for “gratin” and “korokke,” the latter being the Japanese version of a French croquette. The Gurakoro burgers are crunchy on the outside and melty on the inside. They first appeared at McDonald’s Japan in 1993 and have returned every winter since, popular for its combination of the Gurakoro patty which is filled with creamy ebi, cabbage, a special korokke sauce, and an egg sauce, all squished between a toasted bun.

Gurakoro Burger | ¥340

The burger was created with a new recipe in 2019 that makes the flavour richer. The number of egg yolks used for the egg sauce was also increased, as was the spiciness of the korokke sauce.

Beef Stew Gurakoro | ¥390

This year, McDonald’s Japan is adding a beef stew sauce made with a combination of red wine and demiglace sauce. Added to this is mustard, creating a delicious flavour that goes hand in hand with the creamy gratin korokke.

McDonald’s Japan has revealed two new beverages which will be sold at McCafé by Barista branches of McDonald’s from November 25: the “GODIVA Chocolate Espresso Frappe & Macaron” and the “GODIVA Chocolate Espresso Frappe.”

This is McCafé by Barista’s first collaboration with the Turkish chocolate company GODIVA. The drinks were made under the supervision of Yannick Chevolleau, an executive chef and chocolatier pâtissier at GODIVA, bringing together a match made in heaven of rich chocolate and espresso.

GODIVA Chocolate Espresso Frappe – Regular Size (¥540)

The beverage contains a dark chocolate sauce which combines cacao powder and roasted cacao beans which is mixed together with fragrant espresso and milk before being topped with whipped cream drizzled in a couverture chocolate sauce made from 54% Belgian chocolate.

GODIVA Chocolate Espresso Frappe & Macaron – Regular Size (¥540)

You can also get it topped with a vanilla-flavoured macaron which adds sweetness to the rich beverage and looks even more Instagram-worthy.

Starbucks Coffee Japan has revealed that its second instalment of its limited-edition holiday season 2020 beverages will be the “Matcha x Matcha White Chocolate” and “Matcha x Matcha White Chocolate Frappuccino®” which customers can order from November 24. A new batch of festive Starbucks merch will also hit Japanese branches on November 30.

A harmonious fusion of matcha and sweet white chocolate

Matcha x Matcha White Chocolate Frappuccino® Tall ¥590 (Tall-size only)

Matcha x Matcha White Chocolate: Short ¥450 / Tall ¥490 / Grande ¥530 / Venti® ¥570 (Hot option only)

Matcha is one of Starbucks Japan’s signature flavours and just to happens to have been in the spotlight in last year’s holiday season drinks. This year sees marbling mixture of of rich matcha sauce and sweet white chocolate syrup with the Frappuccino®, finished with a squirt of whipped cream, brownie bits, and snowy powdered sugar. The hot version comes as a marriage of matcha and white mocha mixed together with steamed milk to warm the cockles of hearts during the cold months.

New holiday season merchandise

The theme of the second batch of merchandise is “Brilliant Season” which capture the bright and sparkly vibe of winter like with the snowflake-covered stainless steel bottle, a glass mug with beads in it that move around when shaken, a snow globe, and more. The perfect line-up for capturing the holiday season mood during your coffee break.

Starbucks Japan is currently serving the Berry x Berry No-Bake Cheesecake Frappuccino® and Berry x Berry White Mocha holiday season drinks for the holiday season until November 24 when they will be replaced by the Matcha x Matcha White Chocolate and Matcha x Matcha White Chocolate Frappuccino®. It is also serving the Starbucks® Christmas Blend, Gingerbread Latte, and Macadamia Toffee Latte until Christmas Day.

Mister Donut Japan revealed last month that it is set to team up with Pokémon this winter with a special campaign starting on November 15. Before then however, from November 13, the doughnut chain will be releasing the “Mister Donut Chansey Christmas-chu Collection” of doughnuts and merchandise.

Mister Donut Chansey Christmas-chu Collection

Pikachu Doughnut (Custard Whip) | ¥240 (Before Tax)

Mister Donut is releasing four doughnuts this year, one of which is the popular Pikachu doughnut from last year which is coated in chocolate.

Chansey Doughnut | ¥200 (Before Tax)

Chansey, which is known as Lucky in Japanese, is bringing you luck this year in the form of a strawberry chocolate-coated doughnut complete with an adorable face, ears, and belly.

Poké Ball | ¥200 (Before Tax)

Great Ball | ¥200 (Before Tax)

The Poké Ball doughnut has also been transformed from the classic Pon de Ring doughnut from last year and turned into an actual ball shape. It’s filled with whipped cream and coated in a strawberry glaze while the Great Ball version is filled with custard whipped cream and is coated in chocolate.

Pon de Ring Wreath: Pudding Flavour, Strawberry Flavour, Chocolate Flavour | ¥150 (Before Tax)

For the holiday season, Mister Donut is also bringing back their classic Pon de Ring series in three flavours.

As well as doughnuts, Pokémon fans can get their hands on a selection on Christmas mugs and bowls too. Perfect for putting under the tree this year.

©2020 Pokémon. ©1995-2020 Nintendo/Creatures Inc./GAME FREAK inc.
ポケットモンスター・ポケモン・Pokémonは任天堂・クリーチャーズ・ゲームフリークの登録商標です。

McDonald’s Japan is releasing a new tiramisu flavour of its popular triangular chocolate pie dessert at all branches in Japan for a limited time starting from November 11, 2020.

The chocolate pies have a crunchy exterior made up of layers and layers of delicious pastry. They’re filled with warm, melted chocolate to complete the tempting treat. Last year saw strawberry and cookies and cream flavours.

Loving Triangular Chocolate Pie – Tiramisu Flavour | ¥150

The tiramisu chocolate pie is filled with mascarpone chocolate cream and coffee cream, lending a delicious sweet and bitter combination. The tiramisu flavour is themed on “Love,” which is fitting as you’re sure to love whoever buys you one of these warm treats this winter.

McDonald’s Japan’s triangular chocolate pies are the perfect accompaniment to their Premium Roast Coffee, so if you’re in Japan this winter, stay cosy with a cup of coffee and one of these hot desserts.