From Hello Kitty backpacks to girlfriend simulators, it's safe to say that priorities in Japan are slightly different than that of those in America. Obviously, millennia of distinctive cultures, religions, and development will produce two juxtaposed countries with unique tastes and traditions, no matter how connected they presently are via the web and social networks some US companies just seemed doomed to fail.

Concurrently, a brand that finds immense success in one country won't necessarily catch on in another. And the first to discover the differences are often times the brands themselves.

Late last week, Wendy's announced it will be shutting down each of its 71 Japanese locations and effectively withdrawing from Japan by the end of the year.

Similar to the scenario in the states, Wendy's was being consistently beaten by the business that McDonald's generates, but unlike Japan, Wendy's has managed to hold its own against the Golden Arches in the good ol' U.S. of A.

The closure marks the end of a 29-year presence in Japan and is a testament to the differing tastes of Eastern and Western countries. But Wendy's is hardly the only -- or the most surprising -- well-known brand not to garner equal success in Japan.

Despite local buzz marketing and the global stranglehold it ostensibly possesses, Google is having great difficulty catching on in Japan. There, Yahoo Japan controls the commanding share of the market with 56.5% of all search queries, as opposed to Google's 33.7%.

A major reason, analysts say, for Google's struggle is Yahoo Japan's cultural history and local identity -- a problem Google has yet to overcome. Google is still seen as an American company which is a detriment compared to Yahoo Japan's familiarity with the country. Speaking with The New York Times, tech analyst Nobuyuki Hayashi described the dichotomy simply.

"Yahoo Japan is a Japanese company, and most of their employees are Japanese people who fluently understand how the Japanese mind-set and business work," he said. "But Google's still a foreigner who's learned how to speak some Japanese."

Nevertheless, true to the company's character, Google refuses to be daunted in light of any setbacks and continues to produce buzz-worthy stunts and marketing initiatives to sway local trends -- localized splash pages for the search engine, tailored branding ads for the country, and a publicity stunt involving 2,500 balloons and airborne passersby. As long as Google trails anyone in any country, it will expectantly fight the good fight to turn it all around.

For that matter, it wouldn't be the first company to do so. For a while, Apple struggled to gain a foothold in the Japanese cell phone market with its iPhone. Albeit a revolution in technology here in the States, the iPhone and its features were an old hat and somewhat lacking to Japan's hipster set.

Before the introduction of the iPhone 3GS, the device's sub par video and camera support were keeping it behind its Japanese competitors which developed those features early on. It wasn't until Apple released the advanced 3GS did locals finally warm up to the smartphone -- making its 8GB and 16GB the top two bestselling smartphones in July 2009. In short, Apple did what Nokia and Motorola failed to do -- succeed in Japan.

But when a sluggish economy can hinder high fashion outlets like Versace, Sephora, and French Connection -- and money laundering can close the private banking branches of Citigroup -- succeeding and prevailing in Japan is often an insurmountable hurdle for a global brand.

Unlike those last-minute ninja bidders, eBay found no luck in biding its time before entering the Japanese market. Launching in February 2000, eBay's Japanese site already had a worthy opponent in Yahoo Japan Auctions, which entered the fray six months prior.

A combination of hyperbolic announcements before the site was ready, an Americanized service model, a 5% commission on auctions (Yahoo charged nothing), and a premature exit, eBay stumbled and bungled its Japanese experiment. That is, until it formed a joint venture with Yahoo.

Despite a healthy first few weeks, UK sandwich chain Pret A Manger's 14 locations lasted a mere 18 months in Japan, falling far short of the retailer's plan to open 80 in Tokyo. In addition to the chain's 50-50 partnership with McDonald's Japan as a partner and backer disintegrating -- which is cited as the main reason for Pret A Manger's Far East failure -- the business had to also face stricter trading conditions, a weaker economy, and rampant food scares like mad-cow disease and avian flu.

Headquartered in London, Vodafone has found success in Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America -- which includes a 45% stake in Verizon Wireless -- but its belated jump into the Japanese market was plagued with trouble.

The network operator hitched their wagon to local outfit J-phone, which had an inadequate 3G network compared to its competitors. That, coupled with inferior handsets with monochromatic displays, Vodafone Japan was eventually sold off to local provider SoftBank after grabbing a minuscule 6.3% of the 3G market.

It wasn't always a 7-patty success in a sushi-centric country. With similar obstacles abroad as domestically, The Home of the Whopper's initial launch found the international chain struggling through the '90s to compete with the ubiquitous Golden Arches.

Following a price war with McDonald's, Burger King was forced to withdraw from the Japanese market in 2001. However, it bounded back in 2007 and, thanks to the popular Windows 7 Whopper promotion, has found enough success to keep Japanese folks happy and full for the time being.

The fickle tastes of Japanese consumers sent Boots Group (now Alliance Boots) on its own walk of shame in 2001. The UK health and beauty chain suffered heavy losses and was forced to close three Tokyo locations and one shop in Yokohama, thus destroying its joint venture partnership with the Mitsubishi Corporation. Along with Japan, Boots had trouble maintaining ground in Holland and Taiwan, but managed to eke out some business in Thailand.

While its studios in Florida and Canada are able to produce the popular series like Madden NFL and NBA Live, EA's Japanese studio couldn't seem to manage a stranglehold on the international gaming community -- let alone just Japan's.

In February 2007, right before the release of the company's Theme Park simulator for the Nintendo DS, EA announced the slow-to-develop outfit would be dissolved, its staff would be reassigned to other company positions, and while Japanese publishing remained, development ceased.

The problems and controversies continued to mount for Bank of America earlier this year when its Tokyo office of Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity was forced to close due to sluggish deal flows within Japan's private equity markets. Founded 13 years prior, the Japanese investment arm completed only one deal -- with the majority being finalized in Europe and the Americas. In Bank of America's defense, many of its competitors had already curtailed Asian operations as business slowed.

Japanese fans of Bejeweled, Text Twist, and Jumble Solitaire were dealt a heavy blow when casual gaming site Shockwave Japan shut down operations this past February.


Despite reporting 3.1 million unique visitors and 55 million page views monthly in April 2008, the site couldn't compete with diminishing ad sales and a botched investment in a poorly realized game -- if rumors are to be believed. Although Japan can't look toward Shockwave for a quick gaming fix, the country isn't exactly left wanting inthe video game department

Interestingly, the people of Japan weren't persuaded by eateries with mascots modeled after despotic political leaders from Ancient Rome. In 1999, the company announced its aim to open as many as 400 locations in Japan, but faster than the locals could say "Pizza! Pizza!" the Little Caesar's closed off its remaining 16 locations in 2004. And because the privately held company doesn't provide operational details often, whether the retailer even came close to opening 400 stores remains a mystery.

Need info on the upcoming Kurosawa film festival? Wondering what the next Takashi Miike torture scene entails? Scouring trades about a live action Sailor Moon movie? Well, as of June of this year, Variety Japan is no longer there for the inside scoop. Founded in 2007, the Japanese film trade site was taken down and the cryptic reason given on the site was "improving management efficiency." The shutdown marked the third leg of the publication's withdrawal from Asia.

(Minyanville)