Representatives of two award-winning fish and chip shops from Scotland were thronged by eager customers at a luxury Japanese department store as part of an annual showcase of the best of British fare.
Long queues formed at the Hankyu shop in Osaka – considered to be Japan’s version of Harvey Nichols or Harrods – for a taste of Frankie’s fish and chips flown all the way from Shetland.
Frankie’s manager Carlyn Kearney traveled more than 5,000 miles after being invited to attend following the chipper’s awards as the best independent takeaway fish and chip shop in Scotland for the past two years.
Ms Kearney was joined by Calum Richardson of The Bay in Stonehaven, which won the number fish and chip shop title two years ago.
Both manned the “pop up” shop that attracted queues of up to 100 people – including London mayor Boris Johnson who is in Japan on a three-day trade mission – and sold more than 1,200 portions of fish and chips.
Mr Richardson has been involved with the Hankyu fairs for the last two years.
Ms Kearney said: “It has been incredibly busy. I don’t think I really appreciated how popular fish and chips are here in Japan.
“The people are very enthusiastic and our fish and chips have been very well received.
“It’s hard to believe that people in the land of sushi and sashimi have embraced fish and chips so strongly.”
Representatives from the store, led by UK-based Keiji Hayashi, twice visited Frankie’s in the village of Brae to help prepare for the visit.
Mr Hayashi said more than 120 UK brands were represented at the fair, which was expected to attract more than 500,000 people overall.
He said: “There’s not a strong tradition of fish and chips in Japan, so three years ago we decided to invite Calum, as winner of the UK number one title that year, to come and cook at the fair.
“Since then the fish and chips shop has grown in popularity. One of the reasons I think for its success is that people can taste a different kind of fish, namely haddock.
“The nearest thing we have in Japan to batter is tempura, and people have had no problem making the jump.”
All the fish and potatoes for the chips were transported to Japan from Scotland in a freezer container.
Special boxes to serve the fish and chips in were made for the trip and Frankie’s plugged in to the Japanese love of business cards by taking out thousands of bilingual cards explaining all about the shop in Brae.