Alternative To Turkey
Japan, a nation not really accustomed to Christianity, celebrates Christmas just like most parts of the world, albeit the way people spend the holiday is different from that of the United States.
Whereas Americans emphasize the importance of spending time with family on Christmas Day, Japanese view Christmas Eve as a day for dating, making the holiday a special time reserved for couples.
Thus, the actual day of Christmas, December 25th, is not as important as Christmas Eve for many Japanese. Of course, the majority do not visit Churches for praying as Christians on share 1% of the entire population.
Another feature of Japanese Christmas is the odd custom of eating fried chicken, particularly Kentucky Fried Chicken. People lining up at KFC all over Japan is a common sight nowadays, and Christmas would not be Christmas without fried chicken on the dinner table, at least in Japan.
But, what is the reason of such peculiar tradition?
Well, it all started back in the 1970s when KFC first arrived in Japan.
KFC initially opened at the 1970 Osaka Expo to promote American fried chicken, and officially built their first store the same year following the successful promotion.
Few years later, as KFC gradually expanded throughout the urban areas, a store manager noticed foreigners were flocking to KFC on Christmas. The reason behind this trend was the fact that turkeys, a common dish for Christmas in the US, were extremely hard to find in Japan.
Except for a few foreign grocery stores, turkeys are essentially “non-existent” in Japan, with the majority of the population never eating one.
Obviously, this scarcity posed a problem for Americans who wanted to put turkey on the table for Christmas. As a result, they turned to KFC as an alternative, lining up at the stores for the holidays.
A Lie Becomes A Tradition
Such trend quickly gained the attention of KFC Japan, who then aimed to utilize it to boost sales.
By the mid-1980s, KFC Japan started promoting a campaign that attributed Christmas to fried chicken, dressing Colonel Sanders as Santa Claus in front of each store.
The advertisement steadily grew nationwide, attracting a considerable amount of media attention, which decided the fate of Japanese Christmas.
Somewhere in the 1980s, a KFC store manager was interviewed about the ad campaign, and told the media that Americans ate fried chicken for Christmas.
Needless to say, this was a false statement to promote further sales, but the white lie eventually found its way among many Japanese and implanted the eating habit for good.
Accelerated by media attention, KFC continued to promote the image of “Xmas = Fried Chicken” each year, successfully making it a solid tradition by the late 2000s.
What started out as an alternative to turkey now became a custom no one actually doubts, as well as an exceptional result of corporate advertisement.
KFC Japan now reels in ten times the average sales on Xmas Eve alone, and most Japanese views fried chicken as an essential part of Christmas Eve.
Of course, there are many alternatives to KFC, as other fast food restaurants and convenience stores all put fried chicken on their shelves for Christmas. Nonetheless, KFC remains the No.1 choice among all, making people to wait in line to get their hands on “authentic” Christmas food.
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