Dom Dom Hamburger Plus (ドムドムハンバーガーPLUS), Ginza, Tokyo, Japan

Dom Dom Hamburger is Japan's first home-grown hamburger chain. Established in 1970, the chain predates the introduction of McDonald’s to Japan and Mos Burger, another famous Japanese chain. [1] As Japan’s oldest hamburger chain, Dom Dom Burger opened a central Tokyo location in Ginza, one of Tokyo’s swankiest neighbourhoods. The Ginza burger restaurant has a ‘Plus’ tag added to its name to differentiate it from the brand’s regular stores. [2]

Dom Dom Hamburger Plus offers premium burgers made with 100 percent Japanese black wagyu beef. The burgers come with various seasonings and add-ons from wasabi and soy sauce, to bacon, egg, cheddar, gorgonzola, mushroom and avocado. There is wine too, which you can order by the glass or bottle. [2]

The high quality of Dom Dom Hamburger Plus' burgers was not the only reason I visited the Ginza location on 12 Jan and 05 Feb 2023. In addition to beef, there are also pork, chicken, and fish burgers, and other items on the menu. Each Dom Dom Hamburger also offers menu items unique to that location (or to a few locations). The reason I visited the Ginza location was to have the fried soft shell crab burger.

Please continue reading the rest of the article to see more photographs and read about my experience eating Dom Dom Hamburger Plus' fried soft shell crab and wagyu beef burgers.

Traveling Internationally? Enroll in the Global Entry Program

World travel is possible once again now that all countries have dropped their COVID visitor prohibitions, testing, and quarantine requirements in favor of pre-travel submission of vaccination status in order to enter the country. Many countries are moving further forward by eliminating the need for pre-travel COVID vaccination status submission, and ask visitors to postpone their visit if tested positive for COVID.

Japan and South Korea took advantage of the COVID travel prohibition period to eliminate the immigration and customs paper forms in favor of pre-departure electronic approvals. While the immigration and customs paper forms are still available at check-in and in-flight, there are very few takers since most passengers have already taken advantage of the electronic forms before departure. The electronic pre-departure approvals can greatly speed up the time needed to clear immigration and customs and enter the country.

Unfortunately, this is not universally true for entry to the USA at airports. There has been no change for non-citizens; the immigration and customs lines and wait times remain long since great scrutiny is placed on these visitors. USA citizens and permanent residents use the same long immigration and customs queues as non-citizens entering the country, making for the same long entry and wait times.

So how was I able to enter the USA after my recent trip overseas, passing through immigration, collecting my luggage, and customs in less than 15 minutes? My quick entry was possible since I am enrolled in the Global Entry program. The Global Entry program, run by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) service, allows pre-approved, low-risk travelers to receive expedited clearance upon arrival into the United States through automated kiosks at select airports, land borders, and ports [1]. If you plan to travel internationally, you should seriously consider enrolling in this program.

Please continue reading the rest of the article to find out more about my experience with the Global Entry program. Note that this article focuses on the airport entry aspect of the program and the CBP's Global Entry website should be your definitive source for information (listed later in the article).