Thanks for the explanation. However, there's one aspect of KFC's strategy regarding how Christmas is "celebrated" in Japan that I've never understood: how it relates to the holiday's romantic slant (e.g., the focus on couples and Christmas cake). What is your perspective on this?
In the West, Christmas is the fixed family obligation and New Year’s is looser. In Japan, New Year’s (Oshōgatsu) is the non-negotiable family event. That meant late December arrived as a “holiday” with no inherited role or default behavior.
In the 80s, media and pop culture stepped in to resolve that ambiguity by turning Christmas Eve into a couple-focused night—dates, cake, hotels. That gave people a clear script for how to behave.
KFC solved a different ambiguity. It didn’t touch the romantic side at all. It gave families, groups, offices, and anyone outside the couple script a clear answer to “what we do for Christmas food.”
Once you see Christmas in Japan as two parallel solutions—romance on one track, coordination on the other—the coexistence makes sense.
I also dig into the obligation side of that calendar logic more in a later piece near Valentine's Day. Let me know what you think then.
Thanks for the explanation. However, there's one aspect of KFC's strategy regarding how Christmas is "celebrated" in Japan that I've never understood: how it relates to the holiday's romantic slant (e.g., the focus on couples and Christmas cake). What is your perspective on this?
Hi Mark,
It feels contradictory at first, but it isn’t.
In the West, Christmas is the fixed family obligation and New Year’s is looser. In Japan, New Year’s (Oshōgatsu) is the non-negotiable family event. That meant late December arrived as a “holiday” with no inherited role or default behavior.
In the 80s, media and pop culture stepped in to resolve that ambiguity by turning Christmas Eve into a couple-focused night—dates, cake, hotels. That gave people a clear script for how to behave.
KFC solved a different ambiguity. It didn’t touch the romantic side at all. It gave families, groups, offices, and anyone outside the couple script a clear answer to “what we do for Christmas food.”
Once you see Christmas in Japan as two parallel solutions—romance on one track, coordination on the other—the coexistence makes sense.
I also dig into the obligation side of that calendar logic more in a later piece near Valentine's Day. Let me know what you think then.
Thank you for your prompt and detailed follow-up. That makes sense.