Which (East) Asian country was the first to have a McDonald's
restaurant? The information I have is that it is in the Philippines,
but there are no citations to this claim.
 
One word (i.e., the correct country) and one citation/link would be
enough as an answer. Providing a list of the first 10 countries or so
in order and perhaps even a list for other fast food places (Burger
King, etc.) would definitely be worth a few bucks tip.

---

Clarification of Question by gwagner-ga on 12 Jan 2003 13:12 PST

Just wanted to make sure: One word and one link is enough as an
answer, given that the one citation can be judged as somewhat
reliable... I'd definitely have more faith in
www.mcdonalds.com/corporate/history/ than in
geocities.com/buddy5/diary.html

Dear gwagner,

According to official McDonald's sources, the first McDonald's
Restaurant in Asia was opened 20 July 1971 in the Japanese capital
Tokyo, on Ginza Street. The Philippines did not get their first
McDonald's before Autumn 1981. Additionally, I have collected a
chronological list of when McDonald's started operating a first
restaurant in East Asian countries (among them some countries rather
belonging to South East Asia):

 1. Japan (Tokyo), 20 July 1971

 2. Hong Kong, 8 January 1975

 3. Singapore, 27 October 1979

 4. Malaysia, 1981

 5. Philippines (Morayta), September 1981

 6. Taiwan (Taipei), 1984

 7. Thailand (Bangkok), 16 March 1986

 8. Macau, 1986

 9. Korea (Seoul), August 1988

10. Indonesia (Jakarta), 22 February 1991

11. China (Bejing), 10 April 1992

Sources:

McDonald's: Country Sites
http://www.mcdonalds.com

McDonald's Koblenz: Weltbürger McDonald's (in German)
http://www.mcdonalds-koblenz.de/Allgemeine_Infos/weltburger_mcdonalds.html

McDonald's Media Site: McDonald's Timeline
http://www.media.mcdonalds.com/secured/company/history/timeline/

McSpotlight.com: Fascinating McFacts About McDonald's International
http://www.mcspotlight.org/cgi-bin/zv/media/press/prnews_9dec96.html

McDonald's Thailand: Historical Outline
http://www.mcthai.co.th/aboutus/INDEX2.HTM

McSpotlight.com: A Brief History of McDonald's
http://www.mcspotlight.org/company/company_history.html

Macao Trade and Investment Institute: Investment Opportunities in
Macau - Fast Food
http://www.ipim.gov.mo/portuguese/serve/fastfood.htm

Search terms used:
"erste McDonald's" asien
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=%22erste+McDonald%27s%22+asien&meta=
"mcdonald's" asia tokyo 1971
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=%22mcdonald%27s%22+asia+tokyo+1971&meta=
"mcdonald's" china 1992
://www.google.de/search?q=%22mcdonald%27s%22+china+1992&hl=de&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&start=20&sa=N
"mcdonald's indonesia"
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=%22mcdonald%27s+indonesia%22&btnG=Google-Suche&meta=
"mcdonald's" indonesia 1991
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=%22mcdonald%27s%22+indonesia+1991&meta=

Hope this answers your question!
Best regards,
Scriptor

Great response time, fantastic answer!