Kentucky Fried Christmas

For a country where less than 1% of the population are practicing Christians, Japan certainly makes a big deal about Christmas. There are decorations and sales at every department store you see, and the Christmas songs are just as inescapable here as they are in the States. (Just as I feared, the loudspeakers outside our apartment window switched from the usual medley of oldies to non-stop Christmas music. In fact, in a move straight from the Guantanmo torture playbook, they went with an endless loop of a particularly screechy rendition of Jingle Bells).

This year we decided that since we were unable to be with family for Christmas, we might as well the embrace the holiday spirit Japanese-style. In other words: fried chicken, champagne, and cake.

I'm not sure exactly how it happened, but at some point after arriving in Japan in the 1970s, Kentucky Fried Chicken managed to convince the Japanese public that fried chicken is synonymous with Christmas. They dress up the Colonel in a Santa suit every year, and begin taking reservations for Christmas chicken weeks in advance. Of course, we neglected to make reservations, so when we showed up at our local KFC on the afternoon of the 24th we faced the sort of line you'd expect for a new Star Wars film or a video game console release. Rather than wait the 50 minutes we were told it would take to get a bucket, we gave up and got our chicken from Mos Burger instead.

Akiko did think to reserve a Christmas cake from a local bakery, so we were all set on that front. We enjoyed our dinner, then spent the rest of the evening hanging pictures and getting the apartment presentable for the company we have coming next month. (I'm finally down to just a half a box of junk to unpack!)

Happy holidays to all our friends and family, and best wishes for the new year!