So... KFC has a little bit of a legend over here...
Way back in the day, after McDonalds had begun its franchise in japan with some success, the people at KFC thought they'd give it a go as well. Unlike McDonald's, KFC had failed horribly over here. So horribly, in fact, that KFC was just about to pull completely out of japan and never set foot over here again.
At some point, they decided to point a full blown statue of the colonel outside of the store. Since mascots work wonders in Japan, they figured that this would bring in some more sales. Strike 2 KFC, even though they were headed in the right direction, the sales still didn't warrant their franchise in japan.
So... they decided to pull out of Japan. "Screw this country," they said to themselves. "We'll leave within the first quarter next year."
One particularly seasonal KFC decided that for the final season of KFC in Japan, that they should dress up the colonel in a Santa suit. This single act changed the history of Christmas in Japan like no other franchise had on earth.
The Japanese saw the festive santa and bought chicken like it was gold. KFC changed their plans for the following year, and each year since then dress up the colonel in the front of their store around this time of the year.
This advertising had worked so ungodly well, that it has worked itself into Japanese tradition. Each year, it is tradition for the Japanese to eat KFC for christmas dinner. In fact, it is SOOO much tradition, that you must order your chicken a month or two in advance. You must explain in detail exactly how much chicken you want, and when you plan on picking it up on christmas day. Otherwise, you will not get your Xmas KFC.
I've had the KFC chicken here, and honestly it tastes like crap. It tastes like good KFC boiled in water. KFC in america doesn't taste to horrible though... This is one tradition that i'll be bringing back with me and celebrating on a yearly basis. ^_^
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On another holiday related note... Yes, they do have Thanksgiving here. They call it Labor Thanksgiving though, and it was directly imported from the US. It's not a japanese holiday at all, but the nation celebrates it over here anyways. Banks are closed early, and School is off. Works for me.
Why do they celebrate it? Well, it was obviously imported thanks to the US occupation after World War II. Maybe they felt that they didn't have enough holiday's during November, and thought the idea of having a massive feast was appealing. It's certainly appealing to me, anyways... ^_^