In which country is it traditional to eat KFC for Christmas dinner? Japan.
The custom began in 1970, when Takeshi Okawara, manager of Japan’s first KFC restaurant, promoted fried-chicken “party barrels” as a substitute for the turkey dinner associated with American Christmas celebrations. Christmas was not yet a deeply established national tradition in Japan, so the marketing campaign helped give the holiday a distinctive meal.
KFC Japan expanded the promotion nationwide in 1974 with its “Kentucky for Christmas” campaign. The idea became especially popular for Christmas Eve, when families and groups commonly order buckets or festive meal packages in advance. It is a commercial custom rather than a religious requirement, and Japanese Christmas celebrations are generally secular and social.
A common mix-up is assuming this is a worldwide KFC practice or that fried chicken is Japan’s traditional Christmas food from ancient folklore. The association is comparatively modern and was strongly shaped by advertising, though it has since become a recognizable seasonal tradition.