December 14, 2012
Why Japan is Obsessed with Kentucky Fried Chicken on Christmas
The Colonel is ready for his Christmas closeup. © TWPhoto/Corbis
It’s Christmas Eve in Japan. Little boys and girls pull on their coats, the twinkle of anticipation in their eyes. Keeping the tradition alive, they will trek with their families to feast at … the popular American fast food chain KFC.
Christmas isn’t a national holiday in Japan—only one percent of the Japanese population is estimated to be Christian—yet a bucket of “Christmas Chicken” (the next best thing to turkey—a meat you can’t find anywhere in Japan) is the go-to meal on the big day. And it’s all thanks to the insanely successful “Kurisumasu ni wa kentakkii!” (Kentucky for Christmas!) marketing campaign in 1974.
When a group of foreigners couldn’t find turkey on Christmas day and opted for fried chicken instead, the company saw this as a prime commercial opportunity and launched its first Christmas meal that year: Chicken and wine for 834 2,920 yen($10)—pretty pricey for the mid-seventies. Today the christmas chicken dinner (which now boasts cake and champagne) goes for about 3,336 yen ($40).
And the people come in droves. Many order their boxes of ”finger lickin’” holiday cheer months in advance to avoid the lines—some as long as two hours.
The first KFC Japan opened in Nagoya in 1970 and quickly gained popularity. (There are now over 15,000 KFC outlets in 105 countries and territories around the world.) That same year, at the World Exposition in Osaka, KFC and other American fast food chains like McDonald’s were met with great market testing results and helped jump start the westernized “fast food” movement in Japan. After the big commercial push in ’74, the catchphrase “Christmas=Kentucky” paired with plenty of commercials on TV caught on.
The “Americaness” and simplicity of the message rather than any religious associations with the holiday is what makes it appealing. The Financial Times reports:
“Japan is well known for taking foreign products and ideas and adapting them to suit domestic taste, and Christmas is no exception. A highly commercialised and non-religious affair, lots of money is spent annually on decorations, dinners and gifts. KFC is arguably the biggest contributor, thanks in part to its advertising campaign.
‘One of the reasons the campaign lasted so long is that the message is always the same: at Christmas you eat chicken,’ said Yasuyuki Katagi, executive director at Ogilvy and Mather Japan, the advertising agency.”
These days, KFC records its highest sales volume each year on Christmas eve. Back office staff, presidents and execs come out to help move the lines along. Fried chicken and Christmas have become synonymous: KFC’s advertisements feature major pop cultural figures chomping on drumsticks, the company website even has a countdown until Christmas.
And this year, the company launched a campaign that takes the holiday hype to new heights. From December 1 through February 28 passengers on select trips between Tokyo and eight U.S. and European destinations can enjoy KFC in-flight.
But Japan’s love of American fast food does not dim with the Christmas lights once December 25 has come and gone—KFC’s ability to take its traditional foods and adapt them to Japanese culture has made a bucket of chicken a meal worth having year round. This April, they opened a three-story restaurant at the south entrance of Shimokitazawa station in Tokyo which offers the company’s first-ever, fully stocked whiskey bar—what their website says gives visitors a taste of “Good ‘ol America.”
Though, if you ever find yourself in Japan and not in the mood for fried chicken, Wendy’s Japan offers a $16 foie-gras-and-truffle burger.
Read more articles about the holidays in our Smithsonian Holiday Guide here
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Whiskey, fried chicken and Santa. Norman Rockwell meets the Lohan family.
Note the caveman-style eating shots in the 2nd KFC Japan commercial. They don’t eat like that on Iron Chef, where they’re all as dainty and formal as the Queen.
The only quibble I have with this post is that the writer used a constant exchange rate for the price of the KFC meal. The Japanese yen has appreciated greatly since 1974 against the US dollar and other foreign currencies. Since most of the initial customers were foreigners, the meal was not as expensive for them in 1974. The US dollar bought roughly 300 yen in 1974, see http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/data/EXJPUS.txt. The 834 yen dinner in 1974 was about $2.78 for an American or a Canadian (the value of the US and Canadian dollars were about the same in 1974 and now). It was even cheaper for a visitor from the UK since the pound sterling bought about $2.33 in December 1974 versus the roughly $1.60 now, http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/data/EXUSUK.txt.
KFC the evangelist!
Congratulations to Tsunetada “Ted” Takeda of Mitsubishi Shoji who got this thing rolling back in the 1970s!
-dlj.
If you think Japanese eat all dainty and formal, surely you’ve yet to visit a ramen shop in Japan.
It seems like the american company KFC found a good market in Japan. KFC is marketing to the Japanese that chiken equals a happy Christmas holiday.
“the next best thing to turkey—a meat you can’t find anywhere in Japan”
While not something you can pickup at a regular Japanese supermarket, you can find turkey at any Costco (and probably at several other foreign food stores as well). We had one to celebrate Thanksgiving this year.
(Source: A foreigner currently living in Japan.)
Very few people in Japan enjoy their Christmas meal at the restaurant- everyone gets take out. Also, the majority of the customers on Christmas are not families, but young couples (and always on Christmas Eve, not Christmas Day).
And a last important point is you cannot simply go there and place your order – you have to reserve your order at least several weeks in advance or you get nothing.
Unfortunately the author of this article decided to use the current exchange rate and not the exchange rate of 1974. In 1974 it was about 300 JPY to 1 USD. So that mean that chicken and wine was about 2.80 USD not 10!
BTW, 2.80 USD in 1974 in terms of inflation would be around 13 Dollars today. Not bad for some chicken and wine, if you ask me.
Your writer is wrong in saying that turkey is a meat that you can’t find anywhere in Japan. It may have been true in 1976 when I first came to live here. However for over 20 years now we have been able to buy the same major brand frozen turkeys you buy stateside through several web sites here in Japan (e.g. the Foreign Buyers’ Club). There are even a few Japanese poultry farmers who have begun raising turkeys but not on a large scale as yet, it’s true.
One reason is that Japanese gas/electric ovens are very small compared to U.S. and European ones and turkeys are larger than chickens. Another reason is that the preparation of traditional Japanese food does not require the use of an oven. Now with the availability of Micro Wave ovens Japanese usually use them for heating frozen foods or making cakes and cookies and an occasional Western style dish. Japanese microwave ovens are on average smaller than their U.S. and European counterparts.
“yet a bucket of “Christmas Chicken” (the next best thing to turkey—a meat you can’t find anywhere in Japan)”
You can find turkey in Japan. Dean & Deluca sells whole turkeys (even though they are expensive) and the Subways in Japan all have Turkey. So you can find Turkey in Japan. This is how I get my turkey fix every Thanksgiving while living in Japan.
That explains the presence of Colonel Sanders and Johnny Walker in “Kafka on the Beach.”
I could go for this on Christmas Day…IF KFC in South Texas were open.
Thank you for pointing out our error with the 1974 exchange rate in Japan. We have recalculated the value of the original Christmas Chicken meal.
“Many order their boxes of ”finger lickin’” holiday cheer months in advance to avoid the lines—some as long as two hours.”
Fair enough. I’ve waited that long for good sushi in So Cal.
percynjpn is right about Christmas Chicken being generally a young couple thing. For most Japanese who care, Christmas eve means more than Christmas day, as the important thing is having a cozy, romantic night with your aijin (lover).
Heh. I lived in Kyoto back in 1974, and remember well the big Colonel Sanders statue outside the KFC shop (still called Kentucky Fried Chicken then) near the movie theatre that often showed US films.
When “Young Frankenstein” played there, the matinee audience consisted of exactly five people, only two of whom were Japanese.
The three “gaijin” laughed their azzes off (“Yes!!! He was my BOYFRIEND!!!”) to the befuddlement of the Japanese.
Good times, good times.
(Natsukashii, for Japanese speakers)
There’s all kinds of places to get turkey in Japan now. http://www.TheMeatGuy.jp is my favorite.
ohh and one more thing that 2.80 USD in 1974 in terms of inflation would be around 13 Dollars today. Not bad for some chicken and wine, if you ask me.
KFC in Japan is so poor. Can I write PIxxPOOR? No frickin mashed potatoes & gravy? Why not? Stupid. mashed Potatoes and the GRAVY!!! The BEST! The BEST! And can we get some damn Crispy chikin or SOMETHING other than original recipe? WTF? Don’t get it. What’s the KFC Japan problem? They(Japanese people) think this is great????? Boy, if they only knew!! And get some WHITE MEAT instead of the dark meat. I want a choice. Come on, get with it, I’ve been here 15 years. STILL not worthy KFC> NOT WORTHY AT ALL!
Thanks,
Sad in Tokyo
KFC’s ability to take IT’S traditional foods and adapt them to Japanese culture… PLEASE delete that apostrophe! (With the apostrophe, IT’S always means “it is.”)It’s shameful enough for a writer not to know better, but even worse to advertise that fact.
Dear Chikin Lover, aka Sad in Tokyo,
Perhaps you should leave if the lack of choices at Japan’s KFC outrage you so much? I mean seriously…make your own mashed potatoes if it’s that big of a deal. You’re in another country, for crying out loud. How about be appreciative of all the culture and food you get to see and taste in Japan when a lot of Americans can’t afford a trip 5 states over, much less overseas. Crying for American food when you’ve got such great opportunities in front of you?! Crazy! I can understand being nostalgic for home I guess, but you sound ridiculous.
PS. What’s so great about white meat, anyway? Is it some racist thing (dark = bad)? Dark meat is always juicier and more flavorful. I’m not sure why anyone would ever bother with white meat given the choice.
This explains the rise in heart disease in Japan. Hello Junk Food, kill us softly with your deliciousness, all year round.
Sam,
Totally agree with you!