Japanese looking to supersize their diet

"People are eating sweets and chocolate on this high-calorie fad. But they're also keeping their intake down in other areas," said food expert Naoki Nomura, an adviser at the government-funded Japan External Trade Organization, which promotes trade and investment.

Krispy Kreme faces other American-style doughnut chains, including Mister Donut, the sector leader in Japan. The lines that once formed outside Doughnut Plant, another U.S. chain that arrived in Japan in 2004, have long disappeared, and Dunkin' Donuts was forced to withdraw in 1998.

For Krispy Kreme, Japan is part of a comeback strategy. The chain, based in Winston-Salem, N.C., saw its stock collapse two years ago under the weight of overexpansion in the U.S., an accounting probe and the low-carb diet craze.

New management has been improving margins, and the overseas expansion is part of a revival plan announced earlier this year.

But experts warn that Japan's fascination with gutsy food could be a passing fad.

"Japanese are obsessed with what's novel and eye-catching," said Hikaru Hayashi, senior researcher at think-tank Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living. Smart marketing draws instant crowds in Tokyo, but only some products survive the test of time, he said.

Some people thronging Krispy Kreme said they had heard so much talk in magazines and TV shows, they were checking out what the buzz was about — like hospital worker Tomoko Izawa, 33, who was rushing to a baby shower clutching a big bag filled with 30 doughnuts.

Krispy Kreme has created doughnuts for the Japanese market, such as cherry-filling for blossom-viewing season and heart-shaped frosting for that popular cute look, but has kept the basic recipes unchanged.

Like the stores in the U.S., visitors here watch through a glass window a machine roll off doughnuts on a shiny conveyor belt, offering what officials say is entertainment in addition to tasty treats, which have about 250 calories each for a glazed doughnut.

"Sure, it's not really health-conscious, but this isn't about that," said Krispy Kreme Doughnut Japan Co. Chief Executive Shinji Kosaka.

Nomura says the eateries that do well in Japan are those that promote a fashionable image.

The same people who are snatching up Krispy Kreme doughnuts are also going to the gym to work out the calories, as well as going to foreign language lessons, aesthetic salons and romantic restaurants — all to enjoy a slice of a fairy-tale lifestyle, he said.

"People have seen that big doughnut box in Hollywood movies at executives' meetings," Nomura said. "It's a chance to experience that kind of American culture Japanese people fantasize about."

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