What U.S. fast food chain is a Christmas tradition in Japan?

Trivia 25 of 30

What U.S. fast food chain is a Christmas tradition in Japan?

In Japan, Christmas is a secular holiday, traditionally more like Valentine’s Day where couples spend the night at a restaurant, rather than a family celebration (fodors.com).

KFC in Japan

Kentucky Fried Chicken opened its first store in Japan in 1970. By 1981, it had opened 324 more—over 30 a year—and made over $2 billion in the process. Being able to share food has always been an important social practice in Japan, so a big bucket of fried chicken, coleslaw and cake fit neatly into Japanese dining culture (cnn.com).

KFC Christmas

These days, if you were to ask a Japanese person what five words best depict Christmas in Japan, “KFC” would be one of them (fodors.com).

So how did this unique association come to be?

Several stories exist:

1. Takeshi Okawara, who managed Japan’s first KFC (and later became CEO of KFC Japan), said the idea came to him in a dream, where he imagined people eating KFC at a Christmas party (dailymail.co.uk).
2. KFC’s sales team overheard a foreign customer saying they celebrated Christmas with KFC in Japan because they couldn’t buy turkey (cnn.com).
3. A foreign customer asked KFC to deliver fried chicken in a Santa Claus costume to his house on Christmas (cnn.com).
4. A local kindergarten asked if someone could dress up as Santa Claus to deliver their food. Okawara agreed, bringing the fried chicken to the party while dancing and singing along to a “Kentucky chicken” song he had made up (fodors.com).
5. Okawara dressed his store’s Colonel Sanders statue in a traditional Santa suit and created a “Party Barrel”—a giant Bento-type box with fried chicken, coleslaw, and cake. When customers started showing up, NHK (the Japan Broadcasting Corporation) took interest. When asked if KFC was an American Christmas tradition, Okawara embraced the marketing opportunity, lied and said “yes” (fodors.com).

Conflicting stories aside, KFC launched its “Kentucky for Christmas” marketing campaign in 1974. Since then, KFC commercials have been playing on TV every year as the holiday approaches (cnn.com).

Big business

The week leading up to Christmas Eve is the most profitable week of the year for KFC Japan. Around 3.6 million Japanese people sit down to eat KFC at Christmas (dailymail.co.uk). There are lines out the door starting on December 23. On December 24, KFC Japan’s busiest day, the restaurant makes five to ten times more money than usual. Individuals who don’t reserve weeks in advance find themselves standing in long lines for hours (cnn.com).