2018 marks the first year of my first Christmas in Japan, simply because back then I would never celebrate it in Japan but somewhere else be it Jakarta, Bali, or other cities. I've heard Christmas in Japan is usually reserved for couples and I would be so lonely during those times if I didn't have a boyfriend in Japan, hence the absence for the past few years. But I've been studying in Tokyo for the past 6 months, and I don't have any reason to go back home this year. I just came back home last October, and my good friend Kim Dao has mentioned that she would be accompanying me this Christmas
And if I am talking about Christmas in Japan, it's a must to also include KFC Fried Chicken into this celebration day. You can google the history between KFC Fried Chicken and Christmas Day in Japan for a full story BUT long story short, KFC had a successful campaign to incorporate Roasted Chicken for Christmas Day in Japan, and since tens of years ago there weren't many restaurants that sold roast chicken, KFC came up to the top as the pioneer. Though honestly, Japanese mistook the Thanksgiving Dinner Party (Roasted Turkey) with Christmas Dinner. So all in all, it's just a whole big marketing scheme to boost the business
But I feel it's all good, the business is booming and the families are happily eating their own version of Christmas Dinner! Because I grew up with Japanese Manga and Anime, I have learned about this phenomenon from it and I made myself clear to everyone that I would be eating KFC Fried Chicken for Christmas. Which everyone laughed because I could just go to any western restaurants in Tokyo BUT C'mon, I can go to any western restaurants in many countries to celebrate Christmas, but there's only one country where you celebrate Christmas with KFC and be able to join the festive without sounding like a loser lol
So I queued, for 1 hour, because I didn't reserve my Christmas bucket, at KFC in the middle of harsh winter. Simply because I wanted to have my own version of Japanese Christmas. After that, I rushed to Kim's apartment and had an impromptu shot just using iPhone
Got the fried chickens, potatoes, biscuits, and chanmery! It's not as cheap I thought it would be because the whole set cost me 3600 yen! And no, it's not sponsored or affiliated by KFC Japan lol
I stayed at Kim's apartment for 3 hours, chatting and laughing while eating KFC, we also ordered Udon from Ubereats and got our Christmas cake with strawberries on top as well. Finally, I have fulfilled my mission to have the Japanese version of Christmas and I couldn't be any happier
Hope this would be something that you would try as well the next time you're in Japan during Christmas!