McDonald’s history in Japan goes all the way back to 1971. The first McDonald’s restaurant opened its doors to the public in July 1971, in Ginza at the ground floor of the Ginza Mitsukoshi department store. On the menu at that time was the Hamburger, Cheeseburger, Flit-O-Fish, Big Mac, French Fries, Apple Pie, and the McShake. Since then, there are thousands of restaurants all over Japan. It is one of the main fast food restaurants in Japan, along with KFC, Lotteria, Mos Burger, and Burger King. In Hokkaido, you can find a McDonalds in every major city, with the exception of Nemuro, …. and ….. . There are only two that are open 24 hours with one being in Shin Sapporo and the other in Kitami (see google maps below). McDonalds offers a small taste of home for some travelers, who are maybe looking for respite from Japanese cuisine and want something cheap and familiar. Most of the McDonald restaurants have power sockets for charging, and a clean and quiet place to sit and relax, which is helpful to those traveling. Most of the meals are around the ¥700 mark and they do have drive thru and card is accepted. You will also find that some of the cashiers have some level of English which is a bonus.