A Japanese Christmas

Merry Christmas,

In this installment, I am covering some Christmas traditions in Japan. Yes, Japan is not immune to the commercialization of the holiday. The Japanese having very few Christians celebrate Christmas in the purest of commercial forms.

I took this picture a few years ago on my trup to Kyoto. It was taken on the grounds of the Kyoto Station in front of the Isetan Department Store. Can you guess the date that this picture was taken????

Well the picture was taken on November 24, 2005. Well before Thanksgiving. They are keeping pace with us.

As I walked around Kyoto last year, I was intrigued by the Ad blitz urging customers to put there advanced order in for Kentucky Fried Chicken for pick-up on Christmas Day???? What's up with that??? The question lingered in my mind until only a few weeks ago. Why Fried Chicken an Not Turkey???? Well, turkeys are not native to Japan and not widely raised commercially.

OK, no turkeys available. Why Kentucky Fried Chicken. One plausible answer that I found on the net (unverified) was that when Kentucky Fried Chicken first arrived in Japan, their TV Commercial showed an American Family having Christmas Dinner with KFC as the main course (Genious). Apparently, that image still endures today. (Nike, eat your heart out...., just do it????) OK, I'll buy that.

Check out the KFC Christmas commercial.
http://www.kfc.co.jp/tvcm/cm.html

You get 10 pieces of original recipe chicken, christmas salad for five, one belgian chocolate cake. Forgot the commemorative Christmas Plate (a collectible).
Something else is missing???? Where's the mash potatoes and gravy???

Ok, there are many other options for chirstmas. The KFC Japan site is pretty interesting as there are some real differences in what is served in Japan vs. in the US. US. fried chicken, mp gravy, coleslaw....high calorie. In Japan, healthy salad options, vegetable soup and tofu with kinako au gratin..


The second tradition is the Strawberry Shortcake. I don't know where this tradition came from but it sounds good to me. Anyway, how much does a shortcake cost?
ｃheck out the link.
http://www.citydo.com/xmas/cake2007/