Holiday Foods Around the World

Holiday Culinary Classics From Around the World

November 26, 2012

6 / 13

Japan

KFC — yes, Kentucky Fried Chicken — is a must-have Christmas meal for many Japanese, so much so that they'll line up for hours outside the fast-food chain on Christmas Eve. People even begin reserving buckets (or "party barrels") of chicken months in advance.

Source: Flickr User kadluba

6 / 13

by Lisette Mejia 7

Japan

Source: Flickr User kadluba

‹ Back to Homepage

popsugar live!

NOW

Watch POPSUGAR LIVE! Now

7 Comments

Kevin2628110 28 weeks

@thebirdie I knew it.......thanks for the explanation

thebirdie 28 weeks

As I explained it above, Japan is not a Christian country. We look like we are celebrating Christmas but it is purely a commercial reason. (Of course, there are some Christians too in Japan, but our culture is based on Buddhism.) As Christmas here is to celebrate at home with families, many people go out to fancy restaurants in Japan. If we don't go out, many people buy Christmas cake on the way home and eat it at home. We do not any special food we eat on Christmas besides beautiful decorated Christmas cake!

Lisette Mejia 28 weeks

Thebirdie, Thanks for your comment. I got this information from several news sites that have reported on the holiday tradition, but we would also love to hear about your own favorites. Do you have any besides the Christmas cake?

Lisette Mejia 28 weeks

thebirdie 29 weeks

I demand you to remove this info. This is wrong!!! I wanna know who said KFC is for Christmas in Japan. You must have gotten this info from not a foodie person. I was born and raised in Japan and lived in Japan till 27 yrs old. I had never eaten KFC on Christmas day. Or I had only tasted once in my life, but not on Christmas day. First of all, Japan is not a Christian country. We have no traditional Christmas food as we don't celebrate the day religiously. Having said that, we do eat beautifully decorated Christmas cake! I'm really angry with this wrong information!

thebirdie 29 weeks

I demand you to remove this info. This is wrong!!! I wanna know who said KFC is for Christmas in Japan. You must have gotten this info from not a foodie person. I was born and raised in Japan and lived in Japan till 27 yrs old. I had never eaten KFC on Christmas day. Or I had only tasted once. First of all, Japan is not a Christian country. We have no traditional Christmas food as we don't celebrate the day religiously. Having said that, we do eat beautifully decorated Christmas cake! I'm really angry with this wrong information!

Kevin2628110 29 weeks

the holiday food for Japan disappointed me...