gistfile1.txt

1. pandoc -D latex > pandoc.template.jp.tex

2. following instructions from https://groups.google.com/d/msg/pandoc-discuss/R8T4j7SrJXk/EXNLBcm28z0J

go into the .tex file and change the XeTeX part so it reads:

    \ifxetex
      \usepackage{fontspec,xltxtra,xunicode,xeCJK}
      \setCJKmainfont{Kochi Mincho}
      \defaultfontfeatures{Mapping=tex-text,Scale=MatchLowercase}
    \else

3. run pandoc but with --template

pandoc --template=pandoc.template.jp.tex -f markdown_github -t latex  --latex-engine=xelatex hello.md  -o hello.pdf

nb i used \setCJKmainfont{Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro} on OSX