Why Do Japanese Families Eat KFC at Christmas?
It began with an advertising campaign in 1974. Fried chicken slotted neatly into a Japanese Christmas that had no set way of celebrating.
The short answer
The habit of eating Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) at Christmas in Japan spread from a nationwide campaign, "Kentucky for Christmas", that KFC Japan launched in 1974.
At the time, Japan had no set tradition of what families should eat at Christmas. Turkey was unfamiliar and home ovens were small, so a fried chicken set that became a feast just by buying it was the perfect "Christmas table". Today an estimated 3.6 million households are said to buy KFC chicken over the Christmas period, and it has become a fubutsushi of the Japanese winter (a familiar scene that tells you the season has come).
Christmas in Japan is not a religious occasion
The first thing to know is that Christmas in Japan has almost nothing to do with religion. Christians make up only about 1% of the population, and 25 December is not a public holiday. For most people, Christmas is a seasonal event for enjoying Santa Claus, presents and illuminations (light displays).
People spend it in all sorts of ways: some see Christmas Eve (24 December) as a day for couples, some families gather round a feast and a cake, and some people do nothing in particular. This lack of a fixed form left room for a new custom to move in.
1970: KFC arrives in Japan
KFC Japan was founded in July 1970 as a joint venture between KFC in the United States and Mitsubishi Corporation. It opened a trial outlet at the Japan World Exposition (Osaka Expo) held in Osaka that same year, and in November opened its first store in Nagoya.
Japan at the time was growing wealthy through post-war economic growth, and people were eagerly taking up Western culture and food. Fried chicken was welcomed as one of these new Western-style tastes. The chain grew by about 30 stores a year, reaching 324 stores in 1981.
There are several versions of how it began
Several stories are told about how Christmas and chicken came together. According to what a KFC Japan spokesperson told the BBC, it began when Takeshi Okawara, the manager of the first store, overheard foreign customers saying they missed eating turkey at Christmas, and wondered whether chicken could take its place.
Another account says it started when a Christian mission school in Aoyama, Tokyo, asked for chicken and someone to play Santa Claus for its Christmas party. There is also a story that when a TV interviewer asked Okawara whether Americans eat chicken at Christmas too, he said yes, and later admitted that this was not true. CNN has reported that there are several versions, including the company's official one, and it is not clear which is the real origin.
What is certain is that the "Kentucky for Christmas" campaign launched nationwide in 1974 and was a big success. Okawara later served as president of KFC Japan from 1984 to 2002. From the mid-1980s, dressing the Colonel Sanders statues outside the stores in Santa costumes also became standard. The BBC reports that in Japan, where respect for elders is strong, the white-haired Colonel in a red Santa suit quickly became the face of Christmas.
Joonas Rokka, a marketing researcher at a French business school who has studied the campaign, told the BBC: "It filled a void." His analysis is that Japan had no tradition of how to spend Christmas, and KFC offered a ready-made answer: "this is what you do at Christmas".
Christmas KFC today
Christmas Eve is now the busiest day of the year for KFC Japan. According to the BBC, an estimated 3.6 million or so households buy KFC chicken during the Christmas season, and store sales at this time can reach 10 times the usual level. AFP reports that orders usually open around early November, and that at Christmas 2020 there were days when customer numbers were more than 10 times the usual.
The signature product is a set in a bucket-shaped container called the "Party Barrel", with chicken, salad, dessert and more packed together. In a 2016 example reported by the BBC, a chicken box started at 3,780 yen and a "premium" set including a whole roast chicken cost 5,800 yen, the price range of a family feast. On TV, Mariya Takeuchi's song "Suteki na Holiday" ("A Lovely Holiday") has long been the standard tune of the Christmas adverts. The 2023 advert showed KFC celebrating Christmas with its customers across three eras, Showa, Heisei and Reiwa, putting the focus on its place as a long-running family custom.
Some families buy the cake at a cake shop and the chicken at KFC. A man in Tokyo interviewed by the BBC said that what matters is not so much the chicken itself as the family getting together.
What surprises visitors, and how to try it
In the United States, KFC's home country, there is no custom of eating fried chicken at Christmas. An American chef interviewed by the BBC said that, honestly, he would be angry if someone brought a bucket of fried chicken to Christmas dinner. Seen from a country where the centrepiece is a home-cooked feast, it is that surprising. So plenty of travellers are amazed to see queues outside the stores in Japan in December. Researchers abroad have taken note of it as a rare case of a company's advertising taking root as a seasonal custom.
Incidentally, Japan's Colonel Sanders statues have another famous story. When the Hanshin Tigers baseball team won the championship in 1985, delighted fans threw the Colonel statue from outside a store in Dotonbori, Osaka, into the river, and when the team then struggled to win again, an urban legend arose about "the Curse of the Colonel".
If you want to try it for yourself, booking early is the sure way. Turn up at a store on 24 or 25 December without a reservation and you may queue for hours. To avoid the crowds, another option is to go a day or so before or after Christmas itself. You will get more of the feel of a Japanese Christmas if you enjoy it together with the illuminations and a Christmas cake.
Tips
- If you want KFC for Christmas, use the advance orders that open around November.
- Without a reservation you may queue for a long time on 24 and 25 December. Going on a different day is another option.
- Christmas in Japan is a seasonal event, not a religious one. You can enjoy it casually without going to church.
- 25 December is not a public holiday, so companies, schools and shops generally operate as normal.
- Try a Christmas cake along with the chicken to get the full atmosphere.
