, doing business as (which stands for "Mountain Ocean Sun"), is an international fast-food restaurant chain (fast-casual) from Japan. Its headquarters are in the ThinkPark Tower in Ōsaki,

Shinagawa, Tokyo is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The Ward refers to itself as Shinagawa City in English. The Ward is home to ten embassies. , the Ward had an estimated population of 380,293 and a population density of 16,510 persons per km2. The total are ...

. At one time its headquarters were located in

Shinjuku, Tokyo is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...

. The brand opened a location at the Tokyu Milano cinema and entertainment complex in Shinjuku in the mid-1990s replacing Wimpy, but closed in November 2011. It is the second-largest fast-food franchise in Japan after McDonald's Japan, and owns numerous overseas outlets over East Asia, Southeast Asia and Oceania, including China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Australia. It is also the name of the standard hamburger offered by the restaurant, being its first product when it opened in 1972. As of February 2014 the publicly traded company runs 1,730 MOS Burger and several AEN, Chef's V and Green Grill stores. One slogan used within its stores is "Japanese Fine Burger and Coffee".

Origins

The company name, styled in

all caps In typography, all caps (short for "all capitals") refers to text or a font in which all letters are capital letters, for example: "THIS TEXT IS IN ALL CAPS". All caps may be used for emphasis (for a word or phrase). They are commonly seen in l ...

: MOS Burger, is a

backronym A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The ...

for "Mountain, Ocean, Sun". However, originally the company was a spinoff of Atsushi Sakurada's previous company, Merchandising Organizing System. Later, the company began to use playful English phrases in point-of-purchase marketing materials to explain the name, including "MOSt delicious burger", before it finally settled on the current backronym. Sakurada worked in Los Angeles at an investment company in the early 1960s, and during that time, he frequented the Los Angeles chili burger chain

Original Tommy's Original Tommy's, previously known as Original Tommy's World Famous Hamburgers, is a fast food hamburger restaurant chain in Southern California, United States. It is known for its hamburgers and chili burgers. History The original locatio ...

. Wanting to strike out on his own after returning to Japan he decided to adapt the cook-to-order hamburger concept used by Original Tommy's. He also developed the MOS rice burger as an alternative to the hamburger. In April 2011, MOS Burger opened its first store at Sunnybank Plaza, in

Brisbane, Queensland Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

, Australia. As of September 2021, the company has five stores in Australia, all of which are in Queensland. MOS Burger has recently opened in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Products

MOS Rice Burger

The MOS

Rice Burger A rice burger or riceburger is a variation on the traditional hamburger with compressed rice patties substituted for the hamburger buns. The MOS Burger fast-food restaurant chain A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which ...

uses a bun made of

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

mixed with

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley p ...

and

millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets a ...

. Rice was first used as a bun in 1987, when the restaurant served the Tsukune Rice Burger, filled with ground chicken and

daikon Daikon or mooli, ''Raphanus sativus'' var. ''longipinnatus,'' is a mild-flavored winter radish usually characterized by fast-growing leaves and a long, white, root. Originally native to continental East Asia, daikon is harvested and consume ...

, and seasoned with soy sauce. The MOS Rice Burger has been imitated by the Taiwanese division of McDonald's,Taipei Times
/ref> where the rice bun was

pan-sear Searing (or pan searing) is a technique used in grilling, baking, braising, roasting, sautéing, etc., in which the surface of the food (usually meat such as beef, poultry, pork, seafood) is cooked at high temperature until a browned crust fo ...

ed, but it remains a MOS-exclusive item in Japan and other markets. File:MOS_BLT_burger.jpg, MOS Burger "Tobikiri Hanbāgu Sand B.L.T. slice cheese" (2011) File:MOS_Kaisen01.JPG, Mos Rice Burger File:MOS_Chicken01.JPG, Mos chicken File:MOS_Kuro-Koshō_Chicken01.JPG, MOS Burger "Kuro-Koshō Chicken". Black pepper flavor File:MOS_Burger%27s_MOS-walker_is_a_menu_French_fries_on_the_Drink_cup_cover.jpg, Mos walker (fries and drink)

References

External links

* {{Food chains in Japan Fast-food chains of Japan Food and drink companies based in Tokyo Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Fast-food hamburger restaurants Japanese restaurants Restaurants in Japan Restaurants established in 1972 1972 establishments in Japan Fast-food chains of Singapore Fast-food franchises

Origins

Products

MOS Rice Burger

See also

References

Further reading

External links