KFC = Christmas in Japan

 

I was still a baby the last time I was in Japan on Christmas so I don't remember a thing about Christmas in Japan. I was surprised to learn from a friend that if you were to ask a Japanese person to name the thing they most associate with Christmas (or rather Kurisumasu), they'd say KFC. Apparently, back in the '70s, some brilliant KFC Japan employee decided they should market their fried chicken as a special Christmas meal, and thus, a new Japanese tradition was born. Some people report that this was because expats couldn't find turkey anywhere in Japan and KFC was the closest they could get. Whatever the origin, it's paid of massively for KFC.

This year, JAL teamed up with KFC to serve a fried chicken meal on some of their US and European flights during the holiday season.

Merii Kurisumasu!