There are a lot of brands and restaurants born in the US and made a success in Japan. Looking at their web sites and the usage of social media channels, I admire they are doing so well in Japanese contents with no exception. Here are the 3 companies that marketing well in Japan I have chosen from my own perspective.
As a typical Japanese, I have traveled to Hawaii many times. Eggs 'n Things is used to be a local Hawaiian restaurant with only one store. It was introduced as a finest pancake restaurant in Hawaii on Japanese tourist guides. When I visited there for the first time about 10 years ago, I remember there was a long line of Japanese tourists. When I went there for the second time, they had opened a second store in Waikiki. Eggs 'n Things had been a famous spot to visit for Japanese tourists.
Time flied by, Eggs 'n Things opened the first store in Japan in 2010. It was the first store outside of Hawaii. It gave rise to a Hawaiian pancake boom in Harajuku area where their store is located. Eggs 'n Things was a definitely the origin of this boom, and still keeps the longest line among others. Now, astonishingly enough, they have 19 stores located in Japan.
Their website describes nicely about their history of the restaurant in Hawaii which definitely attracts Japanese people. Also, their usage of Instagram is admiring with their nice photos.
Skull Candy's headphones were designed to best fit with winter spots in Utah. Their target is active audience who love snowboarding and music, and also are fashionable. I have a friend of that kind, and he likes watching snowboarding and skateboarding videos with exciting back music. He may be the typical man of SkullCandy target, seeing their YouTube channel.
The apparel brand, Hurley, is popular in Japan. I have an impression that they are doing better in Japan than in the US. The brand attracts surfers, skateboarders, and rock music lovers.
They hold surfing and skateboarding events constantly, and post blogs in timely manner.
They also use Facebook efficiently with new updates. They have over 4.5 million likes on their Facebook, which is an incredible number. Please remember, Japan's population is a little more than 100 million.
Here is the example of their Facebook posts.
Creating effective website, along with choosing right social medias are inevitable when marketing in Japan. By looking at the good 3 examples, I learned making fans in Japan is the most important thing!