McDonald’s Japan reveals exclusive new Tsukimi moon viewing collection for 2026

The moon rises at McDonald’s with eight limited-edition items on the menu, including a sukiyaki burger. 

One of the great things about the transition from summer to autumn in Japan isn’t just the dissipating heat – it’s the chance to try limited-edition “Tsukimi” (“Moon-Viewing”) exclusives at some of the country’s top chains.

Released to celebrate Japan’s annual moon-viewing tradition, which falls on 25 September this year, the limited-edition products commonly feature egg as a key ingredient due to its likeness to the moon. In fact, egg is so strongly associated with the moon in the culinary world that dishes containing egg often have “tsukimi” in their name, even outside of moon-viewing season.

One of the collections we most look forward to every autumn comes from McDonald’s, which is celebrating the 35th anniversary of the Tsukimi Burger, after it first graced the menu here in 1991. To mark the milestone occasion, the chain is giving us a whopping eight limited-edition products, including three new releases, with Japanese stars helping to promote the exclusive menu items in a trio of commercials.

There are two new burgers coming to the menu this year, with one joining the others on the regular menu, and one appearing only after 5 p.m.

The Aburi Beef Sukiyaki-style Tsukimi (570 yen), which can be purchased after the breakfast menu finishes at 10:30 a.m., gives the signature Tsukimi burger a Japanese twist. Sukiyaki is a beef hot pot dish known for its sweet-and-savoury soy sauce base, and it’s commonly eaten with raw egg, making it a great addition to the Tsukimi collection.

Here to help promote the burgers is Japanese actress Aoi Miyazaki, returning for her third consecutive year with McDonald’s, in a 30-second clip that shows her excitedly ordering the burger in Japanese, saying “Tsukimi Burger hitotsu” (“One Tsukimi Burger”).

As for the after-5 burger – burgers on the evening menu are designed to be more substantial for dinnertime – it’s one that cheese lovers will go weak at the knees for.

Affectionately dubbed “Chi-Chi Bai Tsukimi”, with “bai” meaning “double”, this version of the signature Tsukimi Burger comes with two types of cheese, cheddar and white cheddar, and two juicy beef patties.

On the side menu, we have three Tsukimi-inspired options.

Finally, we have the Tsukimi McShake Nagano Shine Muscat (200 yen for a small, 280 yen for a medium), which was first introduced in 2023 and is made with juice from grapes grown in Nagano Prefecture.

All three clips feature a modern version of “Tanko Bushi”, a traditional Japanese folk song that contains the lyrics “Tsukimi deta, Tsukimi de ta” (“The moon is out, The moon is out”). The commercials will begin airing nationwide on 1 September.

With this being the 35th anniversary of the Tsukimi Burger in Japan, McDonald’s says it’s also planning to release a second series of Tsukimi items on 15 September, which is great news for fans of the collection. As for the first series, it will be appearing at stores around Japan for a limited time from 2 September.