Investing.com -- Determined to expand its imprint on a wide range of markets in Asia, Taco Bell will open a restaurant in Japan in mid-April, marking its return to the nation after a swift departure several decades ago.
Taco Bell, which is owned by Louisville-based Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM), has partnered with Asrapport Dining Co. to open a restaurant in Tokyo's Shibuya district on April 21. Tokyo-based Asrapport Dining Co. also has plans to open several other Taco Bell restaurants in Japan in the near future.
The restaurant will offer regular items such as tacos and burritos, as well as some traditional Japanese-only dishes.
“Taco rice will be a plate of taco meat and vegetables served on top of rice," an Asrapport spokesperson told Japan Real Time.
While the company has yet to disclose prices for the majority of the items, the spokesperson said a combo meal will be set at roughly ¥800.
In December, Taco Bell announced plans to add 1,300 international locations by 2023, Bloomberg Businessweek reported. The restaurant currently has franchises in Korea (eight), India (seven), Philippines (four) and Saudi Arabia (two).
During the 1980s, Taco Bell expanded into Japanese markets along with KFC and Pizza Hut, two other PepsiCo (NYSE:PEP). divisions. While KFC immediately proved to be enormously successful, Taco Bell and KFC struggled to catch on among Japanese consumers. Though the majority of the company's restaurants closed in Japan soon after, a handful remain on U.S. military bases.
There are more than 1,500 Yum! Brands restaurants in Japan, the company's third-largest market behind the U.S. and China. Yum! Brands own 1,165 KFC franchises in Japan, along with 373 Pizza Hut restaurants. Yum! Brands have yet to open a Taco Bell franchise in China.